RESTON, Va., July 20, 2020 — Christine Phipps, RPR, owner of Phipps Court Reporting, Inc., based in West Palm Beach, Fla., is set to be installed as the 2020-2021 President of theNational Court Reporters Association (NCRA), the country’s leading organization representing stenographic court reporters, captioners, and legal videographers. Phipps will take office on Aug. 8 during the Association’s Connect 2020, a virtual event that takes place Aug. 7-9 in lieu of the traditional Conference & Expo that was canceled due to COVID-19.
Phipps is a court reporter with 27 years of experience. She is the second NCRA member from Florida to serve as the Association’s President in its 121-year history.
As a single mother, she founded Phipps Reporting, which now has offices throughout Florida as well as satellite offices in 47 states. She is the recipient of a number of business awards including Woman of Outstanding Leadership by the International Women’s Leadership Association and Most Enterprising Women of the Year by Enterprising Women magazine. Her firm was included in Inc. magazine’s Fastest Growing Companies in America in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Phipps holds the national professional certification of Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) and the Realtime Systems Administrator certificate. She is also a licensed court reporter in New Jersey and Tennessee, as well as an Eclipse software trainer.
“The court reporting profession has been so good to me and my family, and now is my chance to truly give back. I am honored to serve as NCRA President and look forward to working with the Association’s Board of Directors and all of its members to help further promote what court reporters and captioners do and the important roles they play in and out of the courtroom, boardroom, and classroom,” Phipps said.
“We not only preserve the official record, many of us also serve as vital links for members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities to access important information. For those reasons especially, it is imperative that we continue to share with the legal community, the business world, and the public just how essential what we do is,” she added.
At the national level, Phipps has co-chaired NCRA’s Technology Committee and Freelance Community of Interest Committee and served on the Association’s Strategic Alliance Task Force, and its Education Content and Vendor Task Force committees. Phipps participated in the rewrite of NCRA’s Deposition Handbook, is a frequent contributor to the JCR magazine, and has spoken at conventions. She has also served as a Director and Vice President for NCRA.
The court reporting and captioning professions offer viable career choices that do not require a four-year college degree and yet offer competitive salaries, flexible schedules, and interesting venues. There is currently an increasing demand for more reporters and captioners to meet the growing number of employment opportunities available nationwide and abroad. Court reporters and captioners rely on the latest in technology to use stenographic machines to capture the spoken word and translate it into written text in real time. These professionals work both in and out of the courtroom recording legal cases and depositions, providing live captioning of events, and assisting members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities with gaining access to information, entertainment, educational opportunities, and more.
To arrange an interview with a working court reporter or captioner, or to learn more about the lucrative and flexible court reporting or captioning professions and the many job opportunities currently available, contact pr@ncra.org.
The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) has been the internationally recognized for promoting excellence among those who capture and convert the spoken word to text for more than 100 years. NCRA is committed to supporting its more than 14,000 members in achieving the highest level of professional expertise with educational opportunities and industry-recognized court reporting, educator, and videographer certification programs. NCRA impacts legislative issues and the global marketplace through its actively involved membership.
Forbes has named court reporting as one of the best career options that does not require a traditional four-year degree. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the court reporting field is expected to grow by 7 percent through the year 2028, faster than the projected employment growth across all occupations. According to 247/WallSt.com, the court reporting profession ranks sixth out of 25 careers with the lowest unemployment rate, just 0.7 percent. Career information about the court reporting profession—one of the leading career options that do not require a traditional four-year degree—can be found at NCRA DiscoverSteno.org.
