Sommer Woodward
Friday the 13th turned out to be quite a lucky day for Robin Bradshaw. She was named Court Reporter of the Year by the Oklahoma Court Reporters Association.
Bradshaw, who is certified in Oklahoma and nationally, was attending the yearly banquet when she was surprised by the announcement.
“I had no idea,” she said, until she heard the announcer say the person graduated from Barnsdall High School. As far as she knew, she was the only court reporter from Barnsdall.
“That was kinda a dead giveaway,” she said. “Up to that point, I did not know.”
Bradshaw said sometimes the winner is given notice for different reasons, but she was never notified.
She thinks the association must have thought it would be fun to put her on the spot.
She accepted her award and made a short speech.
“I can’t remember if I made sense or not,” she said. “It was pretty impromptu.”
Bradshaw began her career in court reporting after attending Oklahoma State University.
She said OSU wasn’t the right college for her and she quickly began looking for something else to do.
During a trip to a courthouse, while all the students went with the judge to his chambers, she stayed to speak with the court reporter.
“I was fascinated by what she was doing,” she said.
Bradshaw began looking for a school and enrolled in Tulsa Court Reporting School. She finished the three-year program in 2 1/2 years.
Bradshaw was trained on a steno machine, which has 24 keys of 21 different letters. Each key can be combined with a number of other keys for numerous words and phrases. Bradshaw can develop new key strokes to program new phrases which she encounters more often in her job.
Bradshaw compares her machine to playing chords on a piano. She explained she doesn’t press just one key at a time. Different combinations of keys mean different phrases or different sounds.
When she graduated from school, she took the state certification test. At the time, she had to be able to accurately record 200 words per minute. She passed and was certified in May 1984. She came to work in Mayes County the end of May for Judge William “Bill” Thomas.
When Bradshaw began working as a court reporter, the most challenging part of her job was working with carbon paper. Transcripts had to be typed on carbon paper so she could make an original and two copies.
As technology advanced, the challenges changed.
What is most challenging today is writing in real time. She explained the courtrooms are so computer integrated that her machine can be hooked up to the judge’s computer. This allows what she types to be put on the computer for the judge to read while court is in session. She said she has to try to write clearly enough for her notes to appear in English and not “steno gibberish.”
Something which has been a challenge since she first began is keeping up with the transcript load. In order to get the transcripts out in a timely manner, she must work at home since she is in the courtroom a large portion of the day.
A court reporter is paid to provide transcripts seperately from her employee pay, which is what allows court reporters to work at home. She also has to sometimes employ a scopist to interpret her steno notes and work them into a readable trasnscript.
Another challenge she faces is the topics which are dealt with in court.
She said it is difficult to sit in court and listen to children talk about being abused, but that is part of the job.
Bradshaw said she has to keep a “poker face” while in court. She explained showing emotion while in court, especially when a jury is seated, could influence the outcome of a case.
Bradshaw said she continues to challenge herself while at work. She tries to get better every day.
“I feel like I’m helping people when they come in here,” she said. “Every case is very personal to them. To us, it’s just another case. To them, their livelihoods are involved.
“It’s nice to be a part of the judicial system and help people protect their rights,” Bradshaw said.
