Making the Leap from Captioning to Freelance Court Reporting

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For captioners considering court reporting, this session confirmed they were closer than they thought. Realtime fluency — built through years of high-speed, high-accuracy captioning under deadline pressure — was identified as the hardest part of deposition work, and one that captioners already bring with them.

A certified transcript, however, was shown to be a different product from a caption file, with its own formatting, certification language, and dictionary requirements built from the ground up. The session covered how depositions run on procedural rules and legal terminology captioners rarely encounter, and how even experienced writers have to earn credibility with a new professional community: agencies, attorneys, and court reporting firms who don't yet know their work.

Caryn Broome, a Nationally Certified Court Reporter/CART Captioner who made this exact transition, led an honest look at what transfers, what doesn't, and how to build a realistic path toward CVR or RPR certification.

Attendees walked away with:

• A clear-eyed view of where their captioning skills already put them
• A breakdown of the CVR/RPR certification requirements and what each test demands
• The technical steps for building a legal dictionary and certified transcript workflow
• A practical prep framework they could start using right away

Meet Your Host

Caryn Broome, Nationally Certified Court Reporter and CART Captioner, is the owner and president of CMB Reporting Services, where she has built a dual practice spanning freelance deposition reporting and CART provision for firms in the United States and the United Kingdom. A 2011 graduate of the Brown College of Court Reporting, she holds three certifications: Georgia's CCR, the CVR-M (Certified Voice Writer, Master) from NVRA, and the RCP (Realtime CART Provider). An active realtime voice writing demonstrator at the FAALJ, NAALJ, and GSRA conferences, she has provided CART services at NVRA's annual business luncheon and captioning support during Pope Francis' canonization ceremony at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. She has served as President of the Georgia Certified Court Reporters Association since 2013, advancing realtime voice writing as a professional discipline.