Being involved in video court reporting is a little different than you might think. From video depositions to legal videography, it’s more than just recording the happenings of the case. Video court reporting is a relative new division of the court reporting agency and has grown in popularity due to its successful results. Let’s look a little deeper at video court reporting and what all is involved.
Video court reporting is a sub-specialty of traditional court reporting. As video technology has progressed and grown, it has become a crucial part of the court reporting process. There is so much more involved than just pushing a button on the camera. A lot of training goes into being a legal videographer. Then, once you actually get your foot in the door of the job every single time that a case is about to take place there’s a lot of preparation needed in order to set up and test all the equipment. When video court reporting is present there will likely not be another record keeper in the room so the videographer must ensure that his or her techniques capture everything in the room.

Basic job overview
Legal videographers make use of their cameras and editing equipment in order to capture important events. A video court reporter will specialize in working for law firm’s undergoing projects like recording legal depositions or producing documentaries in order to illustrate facts of the case. While a college degree is not necessary to be a legal videographer you do need to be professional and be able to understand and follow the court regulations for permissible video evidence. Typically, legal videographers are self
employed or independent contractors and run their own business.

Income overview
There is no set yearly salary for an independent contractor and workers are paid her project. However, one statistic show that on average a professional videographer can earn a little over $41,000 a year although legal videographers generally charge between 90 and $125 an hour so their yearly amount depends on how many projects they can procure. Work is not always consistent so income can fluctuate from month to month. It’s very common for a legal videographer to work almost 20 hour days in order to finish up a project. But cases and clients are not always readily available. Smaller cities tend to have less need of a legal video operator while larger cities will be able to generate a lot more work.

Finding work
Finding projects to keep a consistent flow of income can be difficult at times. However, the best way is through word-of-mouth. Legal video court reporters are usually hired by the lawyers so involving yourself in community service or networking programs were lawyers are present is a good idea. Once you have your foot in the door it may be a little easier to get more work, especially if you were good at what you do. Word-of-mouth travels fast among lawyers because they are always looking for someone who is good and trustworthy. If you want to be a successful legal videographer you must constantly be honing your craft and taking classes and training to get better in your chosen field. There are a lot of videographers that lawyers can choose from so you have to learn how to make your work and yourself stand out from the crowd.

If you are just now starting out as a legal video reporter that you are in luck. Job opportunities are expected to increase in the near future. The profession is expected to expand by 11 percent by 2018 which is not long. If you already have experience in the field then use the next two years to really put yourself out there and become an inspiration for others to follow. This will also help you stand out to companies looking to hire. Don’t let previous experiences discourage you from continuing to look for work. Once you find those projects and start building a client base, it can be a very rewarding line of work and be very profitable as well. Sometimes, it might be beneficial to team up with other legal videographers and use everyone’s strengths to present exceptional work to potential employers. They might not hire you all together but someone may stand out.