Six Court Reporting Services That Law Firms Need to Thrive

Regardless of a law firm’s size, some of its most needed legal support services should be outsourced for one reason: hiring specialized personnel to provide the services in house would significantly increase payroll at no additional benefit, as the same level of expertise can be had for a lower price through outsourcing. The forms of legal support required by law firms vary by firm. But there are some services that every law firm needs, such as court reporting services, video text synchronization, record retrieval, document review, complex litigation support, and deposition support. Below, we give an overview of these indispensable support services that could easily be outsourced.

1. Court Reporting Services

Court reporters offer various specialties, including: voice mask writing, stenography, video reporting, and real time reporting, currently one of the most sought after support services. In real time reporting, the reporter records in words the speech and actions of a court proceeding as it occurs in real time, streaming the text to one or more remote locations via computer.

2. Video Text Synchronization

Video text synchronization allows attorneys to navigate video depositions using text that’s synchronized with a video’s spoken content, cutting down on both research time and presentation time in the courtroom. Whether in the courtroom or in private, an attorney can jump to crucial parts of a deposition instantly, a feature extremely valuable for presenting deposition content to juries.

3. Record Retrieval

Because some of the most essential documents for legal cases (medical records, Social Security records, payroll and personnel records, etc.) require special authorization to obtain, most law firms would rather delegate document retrieval to legal support professionals, which can easily be accomplished by hiring record retrieval support through a legal support agency.

4. Document Review

Although attorneys specialize in reviewing documents, some documents are so voluminous that they require teams of reviewers, such corporate documents, pharmaceutical documents, and legislative documents. In addition to providing more manpower for reviewing documents, document review services also involve strategizing how documents should be reviewed in order to meet time sensitive legal requirements.

5. Complex Litigation Support

Complex litigation could be identified by several factors, with the three most common being: cases that feature sophisticated subject matter; cases that feature tight timeframes; and cases that involve numerous depositions, resulting in voluminous deposition records. To help attorneys handle these complex cases, legal support agencies supply litigation support professionals that specialize in interpreting and organizing case material for trial.

6. Deposition Support

Contemporary deposition support involves at least three technical aspects: legal videography, deposition reporting, and processing a deposition recording in the manner requested by the deposition attorney. Because depositions commonly provide the legal bedrock for court cases, hiring a court reporter and a legal videographer that specialize in depositions is the best option.