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Court ReporterSally Harmon provides a vital legal service, and shedoes it by using a machine invented more than a centuryago. Harmon owns Bredeman & Associates, Inc. and is afreelance court reporter in Jefferson City, Missouri. Courtreporters record what is said during legal proceedings,including depositions and trial. Harmon’s record of depositions and courtroomproceedings can be used as evidence in a trial.Although court reporters appear to be typing, they are actually using astenotype machine, which uses a specialized form of shorthand developed justfor recording legal proceedings.“Stenotype is a fascinating invention,” Harmon says. “It’s phonetic, notalphabetical, so it records speech according to how it sounds. And stenotypeuses its own system for those sounds. So, for instance, the word as is written az.The sound made by the letter D actually is written in stenotype as tk.”Court reporters are highly skilled professionals. “People sometimes say thatcourt reporters will be replaced by computers,” Harmon says. “But even in courtrooms,people can interrupt or talk over each other. Our brains are able to sortthese things out and tune out extraneous noise in a way that computers can’t.”In addition to recording court proceedings, court reporters must alsoproofread their work. Harmon says that for every hour of recording, she performsfour hours of proofing and document preparation.SkillsPersonalityEducationListening, reading, punctuation, language skillsMust like to work alone, detail-oriented, excellent listenerMore than 150 reporter-training programs are offered acrossthe country in schools, community colleges, and universities.For more information on court reporters, visit ubpl.glencoe.com or yourpublic library.hearings, the debtor must be informed of the legal consequences ofassuming the debt. The debtor must also be reminded that reaffirmationof the debt is optional. Under most state laws, no new considerationneeds to be provided in support of this reaffirmation. Instead, thereaffirmation must be supported by contractual intent. A writing is alsorequired by some states.174 Unit 2: Entering Into Contracts