At Coash Court Reporting & Video, we take great pride in working alongside professionals who bring passion, precision, and purpose to their work. Today, we’re excited to feature one of our standout court reporters, Eve Burton. Eve is a highly experienced Realtime court reporter whose early love for music and language led to a thriving career in court reporting.
1.) Can you start by telling us a little about yourself and your background? Where are you from, and how did you get into court reporting and Realtime?
A: I grew up in Phoenix and played piano and was interested in typing at a young age. My mother worked as a legal assistant, and even as a kid, I loved going to the law office she worked at.
2.) What inspired you to pursue a career in court reporting and Realtime?
A: When I was in high school, I took business classes for electives, and when I was a senior, a court reporter came to speak to our cooperative office class. When I saw what she was doing on her little machine, I thought it looked like she was playing an instrument, and I thought, “I could totally do that!” And I really do believe that playing piano helped me succeed in court reporting school, because stenography is a lot like playing chords for words. When I was in court reporting school, I learned about realtime and decided I wanted to strive for that, because I wanted to be the best that I could be at what I do.
3.) Which court reporting school did you attend, and what were the certification requirements?
A: I attended Gateway College and got the Superior Court Certification while in school, which no longer exists. I completed their Associate of Applied Science court reporting program in two and a half years. I passed my RPR (Registered Professional Reporter) in 1998, shortly after completing my court reporting program in college, so I was a baby court reporter at 20 years old. I was so proud of this achievement, because back then, the Arizona court reporter license didn’t exist yet, and I wanted to prove my competence, especially since I was so young. During my initial years of court reporting, many attorneys would ask me, “So how long have you been a court reporter?” and in retrospect, I think they were trying to find out because I probably looked like a 12-year-old to them. In 1999, I received an opportunity to do CART at ASU for hearing impaired students. However, it ended up being a short-term position with the outlook being sporadic, so I was very grateful for the experience but decided that I was definitely more cut out to be in the professional legal world for a living. In 2002, I considered moving to California, and so I got my California CSR (Certified Shorthand Reporter). This really jettisoned me into Realtime, because there were far more attorneys in California who requested Realtime than in Arizona. In 2003, I got my CRR (Certified Realtime Reporter) certification, just to make it official.
4.) What do you enjoy most about your work?
A: I enjoy working with and collaborating with professionals. I enjoy learning about so much as I essentially get to be a fly on the wall and listen to experts with medical and legal knowledge.
5.) How long have you been working as a court reporter, and what led you to start collaborating with Coash Court Reporting & Video?
A: I have been reporting for 28 years and began collaborating with Coash when Brooke made a connection with me to take a remote realtime hearing. I just love Brooke’s positivity and attention to detail! I also had a connection to Deanna from back in the day, having gone to court reporting school together, and I love Deanna’s helpfulness, kindness, and efficiency.
6.) What does a typical day look like for you as a court reporter? Are there any aspects of the job that you find especially rewarding or challenging?
A: Since I spend so much time working on transcripts in my home office, I am a self-proclaimed plant lady and have over 100 house plants in my home, with many of them keeping me company in my office. The most challenging aspect of my job, I feel is time management, because our schedules are always somewhat unknown. We know when a deposition is going to start; however, we many times do not know up front how long it will go for or whether the transcript will be expedited, and so court reporters are constantly pivoting in their schedules and personal time.
7.) Realtime requires a lot of focus and precision. How do you stay sharp and ensure you’re always capturing details accurately during a deposition?
A: I feel as a court reporter, we just have to be focused and are very good listeners. Staying sharp has a lot to do with honing one’s whole being, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and my efforts to do so are what I feel keep me going day in and day out.
However, a light-hearted thing that I feel has helped me listen better is to watch or listen to entertainment with speakers with foreign accents. For example, if one has watched Downton Abbey, there are characters with many different kinds of accents from the UK region, and just training your ear to understand all those different accents helps when listening to witnesses who have foreign accents, whether they’re expert or lay witnesses.
8.) Technology plays a big role in Realtime. What tools or technologies do you use, and how have they impacted your process?
A: Keeping up with technology has to be at least a part-time hobby, because technology is ever evolving. I remember when I first started doing Realtime, I had to use all the cables, and it was so clunky. Now Realtime is provided wirelessly with a simple link that clients can just click on. I keep up on my software and learn about the new things it incorporates with updates. I also use technology to make my job physically easier for myself. For example, in 2016, I switched to the flat Stenovations LightSpeed writer because having it on my lap was more ergonomic, being flat allowed an economy of motion of my hands, and I was able to downsize my court reporting bag considerably. I also use a Dymo printer to print my exhibit stickers at in-person depositions, which not only creates a more professional-looking sticker, but also saves me from having to handwrite out stickers.
Thank you, Eve, for sharing your inspiring journey and for the outstanding impact you make every single day. Team Coash shines brighter with professionals like you!