NAEGELI Warns AI Can't Replace Court Reporters; It's Making Them Indispensable

PORTLAND, Ore, USA, July 16th, 2026, FinanceWire

The number of working court reporters in the United States has dropped by roughly 21 percent over ten years, even as courts and law firms need more certified transcripts than before.

In response to mounting national shortage data, NAEGELI Deposition & Trial is expanding its roster of court reporters across the country. The firm says recent national reporting backs up what people in the profession have watched happen for years: courts and law firms want more trained reporters right now, even as transcription software keeps improving.

For years, the prediction was that artificial intelligence would make court reporters unnecessary. That has not been how it played out. Law firms and courts still rely on trained, certified reporters, but fewer qualified people are coming into the field, so demand keeps running ahead of supply.

A Shortage Decades in the Making

The Wall Street Journal reported that the number of working court reporters in the country has fallen by about 21 percent over the past ten years, down to fewer than 23,000. Much of that drop comes from experienced reporters retiring faster than new ones can take their place.

Becoming certified typically takes 18 to 24 months of study, requires sustained accuracy of around 95 percent on dictation tests, a working knowledge of legal and medical terminology, and, in many states, a license. The caseload, meanwhile, has not let up. The Journal reported that the role can pay around $100,000 a year once transcript sales and related work are counted. A profession in decline does not command that kind of compensation.

The Human Cost of an Empty Chair

This is where the numbers become a question of access to justice, and California shows it plainly. According to the Judicial Branch of California, more than three million hearings and trials have gone forward without a verbatim transcript since April 2023, simply because no court reporter was available. 

With no record of what was said, a person usually cannot appeal a ruling. The people who lose the most tend to be families in custody disputes, people handling probate, and everyday civil litigants who cannot afford to solve the problem themselves.

Certified Court Reporters Remain Essential

Automated tools have a role in modern litigation support, but they have not proven to be a substitute for a certified reporter. Software recognition rates in the mid-90 percent range are typically measured on clean, single-speaker audio, not the overlapping voices, background noise, and dense technical vocabulary of a real courtroom. A trained reporter can stop proceedings to clarify what was said; software cannot. 

Beyond accuracy, a legal transcript is a sworn, certified record that a licensed reporter signs and can be called to testify to. As the National Court Reporters Association points out, automated systems can neither certify a record nor be held accountable for its errors. Research has also shown that major speech recognition systems produce roughly twice as many errors for Black speakers as for white speakers, a gap that has no place in an official court record.

Industry leaders have echoed the trend. Mark R. Williams, CEO of Magna Legal Services, noted that "the firms that will thrive over the next decade are not choosing between people and technology. They are investing in both. Innovation creates efficiency, while experienced professionals provide the judgment and accountability that the legal system requires."

NAEGELI Addresses Industry Demand

NAEGELI's position is straightforward: certified human reporters are not a legacy cost to be optimized away. They are the foundation on which the legal record is built. "I have seen this profession written off every few years, and every time the opposite has proven true. The technology improves, the demand for certified human reporters grows, and the firms that invested in people rather than shortcuts are the ones still standing when it counts. A transcript is not words on a page. It is a sworn record that a real person has to stand behind, and that is something no algorithm can do for you," said Marsha J. Naegeli, Founder and CEO of NAEGELI Deposition & Trial.

About NAEGELI Deposition & Trial

NAEGELI Deposition & Trial is a nationwide court reporting and litigation support firm with offices across the United States. For 45 years, the company has served litigation at every stage, across law firms and legal departments of all sizes.

NAEGELI's suite of services includes Court Reporting, Legal Transcription, Transcript Summaries, Videography, Remote Depositions, Legal Interpreting, Document Management, and Trial Support. From single depositions to multi-week trials, NAEGELI delivers experienced professionals both in-person and remotely.

To reach a Client Executive, contact NAEGELI at (800) 528-3335, schedule@naegeliusa.com, or chat with an expert at naegeliusa.com.

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