Digital Court Reporter -- Contract (1099)

Pay: $40/hour, or a half-day/full-day rate with hourly overage. We pay promptly—no chasing invoices.

Where: Remote, mostly. Occasional in-person work around Baltimore.

Type: Independent contractor, job by job.

MGM Reporting is the digital reporting division of MGM Trial Services. We're looking for contract reporters to capture the record at depositions, most of them over Zoom.

You'll run the audio and video, manage the AI transcription software as it captures testimony, and serve as the officer of the proceeding—swearing in the witness, keeping people from talking over each other, marking exhibits, and getting names and spellings on the record. The software does the writing. Your job is to make sure the record is captured clean and complete—because a clean record is something you secure in the moment, not something you fix later.

Most of this job is paying attention—really paying attention—for hours at a stretch. That's harder

than it sounds. It's the one thing we can't train.

What The Work Actually Looks Like

Most days you'll work remotely, which means a proper setup on your end: a quiet, professional space, a reliable computer, and an internet connection you can stake a deposition on. You'll get the participants settled, swear in the witness, and keep a careful ear on the proceeding—catching cross- talk, confirming spellings, flagging anything that could muddy the transcript later. We'll brief you before a job; you won't get dropped into something cold. The owner still covers depositions himself, so the person briefing you does the work too. When it's in-person, you'll set up the gear (figure 30–50 lbs of equipment) and break it down after.

What We Need From You

• A genuinely good ear, and the kind of attention that actually follows the testimony—grasping what the deposition is about, not just the words going by—because that's what lets you sense in real time when something's at risk of being lost: a speaker who needs to be identified, a name or term that should be confirmed on the record now, cross-talk that won't be recoverable later.
• You're the only person who was in the room. The things that can only be secured live are yours to catch.
• A clear, articulate, professional presence that puts a room at ease: you're the first person the attorneys deal with, and often the one who sets the tone for the whole proceeding
• The social touch to be liked and trusted by both sides at once—warm, adaptable, and scrupulously neutral
• Composure when things get tense or the tech fails mid-proceeding
• Experience as a digital court reporter; no stenography background required
• Eligibility for a Maryland Notary commission

Nice to have, not required

• AAERT certification (CER or CDR)
• Familiarity with legal and medical terminology—a lot of our work is medical
• A background that involved writing seriously

MGM Trial Services has provided cutting-edge litigation support services to the premier law firms in the Mid-Atlantic for over 20 years. This position is an opportunity to participate in one of our fastest-growing divisions. We view this role as a mutual investment, in which you are given the resources to grow with us—to become an asset to our tight-knit team.

We want to cultivate the linguistic precision, editorial judgment, and attention to detail that you already possess. We can provide training on the equipment, software, and workflows. What we value most is your ability to listen attentively, to read fastidiously, and to support clients with confidence. In return, you’ll receive competitive pay and the opportunity to grow into a highly skilled Digital Court Reporter.