Joshua Barnes Edwards, owner of JB Reporting, Inc., a stenographic court reporting agency based in New York City, is announcing that, effective January 1, 2023, the company will be raising its rates for its services. Edwards left court reporting school in 2010 and formed JB Reporting, Inc. He went on to become an in-demand freelance court reporter and reported depositions at many major law firms throughout the city as well as arbitrations, hearings, and public meetings.
“Court reporting is about ethics as much as it is about words,” says Edwards. “Stenographic court reporters listen intently to every word and transcribe them verbatim, which makes us superior to technology like audio recording or automatic speech recognition.”
Notwithstanding the highly demanding skill and knowledge base required of a stenographic court reporter, their pay rates have remained depressed in certain markets over the past few decades. According to court reporting blog stenonymous.com, an original transcript page would cost approximately $2.75 in 1991 which, adjusted for inflation, would be approximately $5.74 in 2022. Edwards currently charges $4.00 per page for an original transcript.
The new rate schedule, which will be reflected on its website as of the new year at jbreporting.com/rates, will be as follows: original transcripts (delivery within 10 business days) will go from $4.00 per page to $4.50 per page; a 3-day expedite will go from $6.00 per page to $6.50 per page; daily delivery will go from $8.00 per page to $8.50 per page; expert witness/medical testimony surcharge will go from an additional $0.50 per page to an additional $0.75 per page; rough drafts will go from $1.50 per page to $1.75 per page; and realtime will go from $3.00 per page per device to $3.50 per page per device. The appearance fees will remain at $100 for a half day and $200 for a full day. The bust fee will remain $200. Copies of transcripts will still be billed at 50% of the original.
As a stenographic reporter and member of the National Court Reporters Association, Edwards has earned the certifications of Registered Professional Reporter, Registered Merit Reporter, Certified Realtime Reporter, Registered Diplomate Reporter, and Certified Realtime Captioner. He is also the past president of the New York State Court Reporters Association, from 2019-2021, where he coordinated and taught several online seminars for stenographers. He also co-owns StenoCaptions LLC, which provides Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services for college students as well as meetings and theatrical events throughout New York City.
