Whether you are a court reporter interested in COCRA membership, news, student recruitment, or you're interested in learning more about exciting career opportunities, we hope you find the resources you're looking for. Happy navigating!
Posted on November 4th, 2011 by admin
In our continued efforts to promote those officials who have been laid off, COCRA has entered into a three-month advertising contract with the Bar Association of San Francisco. COCRA now has a sponsored hyperlink on their Northern California Register of Experts and Consultants.
The screenshot below is of COCRA’s sponsored link. You may view the live link by clicking here which will take you to the BASF website.
Keep in mind that COCRA’s link will pop up on the majority of the pages on BASF’s register. It is COCRA’s hope that this will draw the attention of attorneys who have matters in civil courts towards the officials listed on COCRA’s Registry of Officials.
You may view the Registry by clicking here.
Posted on October 28th, 2011 by admin
Stanislaus County pulled all its Official Reporters out of civil courts, years ago, only to recognize that mistake and return to the staffing of civil courts with official reporters. Yet again, it’s their plan to pull reporters from civil courts as an answer to budget shortfalls. Santa Cruz made that same change last year. In Napa, Marin and Alameda civil courts, official court reporters are disappearing at alarming rates. Ventura and LA are being warned of coming layoffs. Other courts have intimated this might also be a solution to their budget woes. Last Monday, San Francisco Superior Court jettisoned all its official court reporters that cover the civil courts.
What’s going on? The answer is not simple.
The California Legislature provides public funding for official court reporters in court matters most intrinsic to an orderly and safe society: criminal, civil conservancy, family and juvenile. Back in 1992, the California Legislature, recognizing the efficiencies derived from using in-house court reporters, enacted a user fee system to encourage the courts also to provide official court reporters in all other matters [not covered by GC69952], including civil. The user fee system was designed to offset the costs of the service provided to the litigants who pay the fee and to guarantee accessibility and availability of a verbatim record.
However, over the past 20 years, the user fee system has become a political football in the battle of the state budget. Over the years, it’s been diluted to a point where there is little evidence that it does anything to directly offset the costs to each trial court for the reporting service provided. It’s actually becoming an excuse for local courts to put the onus on the litigants with money and a lawyer to privately retain and drag a CSR into court. More problems flow from there, not the least of which is the increasingly imbalanced access to justice between litigants of means and litigants without means. This growing mess is not what the Legislature intended, and it’s certainly not consistent with the mission of the courts.
COCRA is inviting other stakeholders to participate in our efforts to fix this broken fee structure and to stop the privatization of the official reporters’ jobs. Follow our progress and check back with us here on our website for updates and information on how you can help.
Posted on October 7th, 2011 by admin
As many of you know, there has been a trend in various superior courts throughout the state to remove official court reporters from civil courts.
Aside from the negative effects to the public and the judicial system, this has resulted in the layoff of many officials.
The California Official Court Reporters Assn. would like to help. COCRA is in the process of developing a separate page on our website which will contain a registry of those officials who have been recently laid off. This registry will contain the names and contact info for those officials. It is our intent to begin advertising that page in various legal outlets to promote the experience and expertise that these officials bring to counsels seeking a reporter for a civil proceeding.
If you would like to add your name to our registry, please contact us by clicking here. We will send you a brief form to fill out that will give us information that we need to post to the registry. It is COCRA’s hope to focus as much attention as we can to all of you who have been or may get laid off.
Please be sure to visit our site often for updates, or to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
Posted on October 1st, 2011 by admin
And so ends another successful COCRA Fall Seminar. COCRA thanks all of you who spent the day with us in San Francisco. We know that in these times of economic uncertainty every dollar counts. The fact you choose to spend your money by becoming COCRA members and registering for our seminars shows how much you believe in us, and your profession. We truly appreciate your support.
We drew names in our early registration drawing today and we are pleased as punch to announce the following winners.
First Prize/iPod Touch
Janet Pond
Second Prize/iPod Nano
Christine Jones
Third Prize/iPod Shuffle
Jennifer Burnett
Fourth Prize/ Free Seminar Registration
Renee’ Smith
Congratulations to our winners! We hope to see you all again at our 2012 Spring Seminar in San Francisco.
Posted on September 11th, 2011 by admin
If you’ve been to a COCRA seminar then it’s more than likely you’ve attended a session led by grammarian extraordinaire Margie Wakeman Wells. Her sessions on punctuation for court reporter professionals are incredibly popular and receive some of the best, if not the best, seminar ratings from COCRA attendees.
Margie has created a website for those court reporters who, “care about grammar and punctuation, because you want to learn more, because you love a lively debate about where to put that comma or what that number form should be!”
COCRA highly encourages officials to check out Margie’s reference guide Court Reporting: Bad Grammar/Good Punctuation. The book is a blessing for officials who struggle on a daily basis to correctly punctuate “attorney speak.”
The description of the book below is taken from Margie’s own website.
Court Reporting: Bad Grammar/Good Punctuation is the story of punctuation. Read in its entirety along with the exercises that parallel it in the Workbook, this is an advanced course in punctuation for the court reporter, the court reporting instructor, the court reporting student, or anyone who wants to truly understand punctuation.
It is the definitive text on the rules for punctuation; a discussion/explanation of the rules; and the thing that sets it apart from other texts on punctuation is that it includes those special things we need to know about applying the rules to the court reporting transcript.
For those interested in purchasing a copy of this great book, please click here.
Posted on September 11th, 2011 by admin
COCRA received the following message from the California Deposition Reporters Association regarding changes to the California Certificate in Realtime Reporting (CCRR) exam. DRA is the association that is the group that facilitates the CCRR.
Immediately following the annual DRA convention in Monterey in February 2012, the CCRR exam will be increased from 180 to 200 words per minute, in accordance with the recent change in the national realtime exam, and in order to keep abreast with the increased challenges facing realtime reporters in today’s age.
There are only two opportunities left this year to take the CCRR at 180 wpm. The first is September 24th in San Diego at DRA’s Fall Seminar, and your second and last chance in 2011 is at COCRA’s own Fall Seminar. Reporters will get one more chance to take the CCRR at 180 in February, 2012, at DRA’s annual convention in Monterey.
To register for the CCRR click here.
And don’t forget that the CCRR will also be hosted at COCRA’s Fall Seminar in San Francisco, October 1st.
Posted on September 1st, 2011 by admin
The California Official Court Reporters Association (COCRA) recently went through a Request for Proposals (RFP) process to identify a new association management company. After extensive review of the submissions and interviews of the top candidates, COCRA has awarded the contract to Smith Moore & Associates.
Smith Moore & Associates
Smith Moore & Associates is a full-service association management firm located in downtown Sacramento, California, within walking distance of the State Capitol. Since its inception in 2006, Smith Moore & Associates has grown from one client to 15 clients; and from two staff members to 15 employees. The vision of Smith Moore & Associates is simple: to be the premier association management company on the West Coast.
To achieve this vision, Smith Moore & Associates and its principal are dedicated to a singular focus of association management. Smith Moore & Associates focuses on the administration and strategic management of its clients, while working jointly with each client’s legislative advocates and associated counsel.
Smith Moore & Associates provides high-quality management services that are tailored to the specific needs of its clients. This approach ensures that the volunteer leadership can focus on the vision of the organization, while being confident the day-to-day operations are implemented effectively and efficiently.
Melissa Dixon
Account Manager
Melissa Dixon, CAE,is the Director of Operations and an Account Manager at Smith Moore & Associates. Melissa has fourteen years of experience in administrative and management services to trade associations. Melissa also manages California Association of Business Brokers (CABB), the California Association of Code Enforcement Officers (CACEO), the California Official Court Reporters Association (COCRA), the California Society for Municipal Finance Officers (CSMFO), the Fire Districts Association of California Employment Benefits Authority (FDAC EBA), the Mosquito Research Foundation (MRF), the Sacramento Valley Association of Building Officials (SVABO), and Springbrook National User Group (SNUG).
Melissa specializes in database management, budget development, meeting/event planning, human resources, and writing and editing publications. She works closely with the boards and committees of her clients in the development of governance documents, bylaws, policies, procedures, and credentialing and accreditation programs.
Melissa graduated from California State University, Sacramento, where she received a bachelor’s degree in English and earned from Walden University her MBA with a concentration in non-profit administration. Melissa received the prestigious Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) in 2010.
Posted on September 1st, 2011 by admin
The following letter was sent to the office of Governor Brown, stating COCRA’s opposition to AB 110, a bill which affects the filing of felony pleas and sentencings.
Please refer to our earlier writings about this matter posted here and here.
July 26,2011
Honorable Jerry Brown
Governor
State Capitol, First Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 110 (Blumenfeld)-Request for Veto
Dear Governor Brown,
I am writing on behalf of the California Official Court Reporters Association (COCRA) and the Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21, IFPTE, AFL-CIO (PTE), to request that you veto AB 110 (Blumenthal) when it reaches your desk.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on August 25th, 2011 by admin
Bring your laptop and join software presenters that will provide training on three of the largest court reporting software including Eclipse, Case CATalyst, and ProCAT. Software presenters will showcase the latest features of each software as well as provide training, tips, and advice on how best to utilize your court reporting software to its full potential.
Laptop not required for this session although it is HIGHLY recommended that attendees bring their laptops.
Free wireless connection is provided.
SCHEDULED TO APPEAR :
1. Advantage Software- Steve Kosmata; Official Court Reporter and Eclipse User
2. Stenograph- Terri Wilson; Stenograph Trainer
3. ProCAT- Deby Owens; ProCAT Trainer
Posted on August 18th, 2011 by admin
October 1, 2011 – 12:00 p.m. – COCRA Fall Seminar – San Francisco
San Francisco State University
Union Square Downtown Campus
The Westfield San Francisco Centre
835 Market Street, 6th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94103
The California Certificate in Realtime Reporting (CCRR) is a skills test designed to measure the basic realtime writing competency of court reporters. The test is comprised of five minutes of dictation at 180 words per minute at 96% accuracy. Candidates must use their own CAT dictionary. Candidates must perform their own translating functions. Candidates are required to convert their final skills test file to ASCII or PDF format and copy it onto a 3.5″ disk or CD without assistance, and surrender the disk or CD to a CCRR Proctor. Candidates must label their ASCII or PDF disk or CD with their registration number, with a label provided upon check-in; name or any other personal identification is not permitted.
Click here to register.
Click here for more information.
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