Bridging the Gap – Court Bridge Solution

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Something is happening…

Much like the Second Industrial Revolution, a phase of massive development largely based on technological advancements and a new worldwide connection, our (R)evolution is marked by a similar tone.

“Technology is best when it brings people together.” — Matt Mullenweg

The justice system may sometimes be criticized for its notoriously slow pace and often strained resources, but legal technology is one area that is providing some major support to the courts through continued exploration and development.

Anyone who has been involved in legal tech over the past decade or so can attest to the fact that we have come a very long way in a very short time (especially in legal industry terms). From coast-to-coast new technology is being tested and unveiled in various levels of court in an effort to provide better access and more efficient proceedings. As we continue to explore new ways to innovate, our team is focused on developing legal solutions that ensure better access through tech that connects — no matter where you are.

It’s all about connection.

As we continue to highlight our e-solutions and legal services across the country, next up in our series is our customized court bridge solution, a specialized service that provides authorized virtual access to the courtroom.

The court bridge frees up both time and resources in expediating a court proceeding by setting up videoconferencing for witnesses to attend remotely in a streamlined and supported manner. Not only does it aid in more efficient scheduling, but it also ensures a smoother process as a whole. Our team will handle the details so you can maximize your time.

“Taking care of the facilitation of videoconferencing of remote witnesses to the court allows our clients to free up their valuable time needed for trial prep. We don’t simply just provide SIP dial‑in info, we actually liaise with the court and fill in the necessary paperwork on behalf of our clients. The process can be cumbersome for our clients, so we provide a valuable service in the facilitation of these requests. Our videoconferencing/bridging service has helped to bridge connections between local courts and witnesses as close as Vancouver and as far as Singapore.”

— Zach Bragg, Complex Litigation Manager (Reportex, a Veritext Company)

We invite you to click here to learn more about this service and review the possibilities.

Stay tuned for more e-solutions as our (R)evolution continues to unfold and follow us on social media for more tips and tricks to stay connected! #techthatconnects #therevolutioncampaign

Meet Jenn Kendall, Director of Human Resources

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Jenn is the Director of HR, responsible for the hiring, onboarding, performance management and training of our teams across Canada. Our director of human resources has had diverse experience applying HR programs in a lawful, fair and consistent manner in many industries across four provinces. She has specialized in change management, organizational structure, business development, start-ups and expansions. She also has training and experience in Nonviolent Crisis Intervention, suicide intervention and conflict resolution. Outside of the corporate world she has been teaching yoga and meditation for nearly 15 years.

At Reportex our core values of team, mentorship, equality, community and industry are central to what we do. Veritext’s mission and corporate values dovetail nicely with our already solid foundation. Together we aim to be respectful, ethical, collaborative, accountable and professional. Can you tell us which of these values resonates most strongly with you and why?

It’s pretty challenging to pick just one as I think they are all essential components to building healthy, cohesive teams and an environment where all feel welcomed, valued and appreciated.

For today I will focus on respectful. A workplace, regardless of size and service, provides employment to people of varying backgrounds, belief systems, perspectives, ethnicities, etc. Each one of those individuals will have a different role and level of responsibility within the organization. Each one also has an equal right to be there and to have an important contribution to make in the overall success of the organization. While we aren’t required to like everyone we work with, there is an expectation that each individual can come to work and be treated respectfully. Without a basic level of respect for our co-workers, the ability to complete the requirements of each of our positions and our overall job satisfaction become significantly impacted, having a long-term and lasting impact on the individual and the business itself.

Based on your experience and knowledge what is the key element to maintaining a strong team during stressful times like COVID-19 and corporate transitions?

I would say there are two things that are essential: 

The first is empathy — an understanding and appreciation that everyone navigates and copes with change and unknowns in a very different way. The way we might do it isn’t how someone else would do it. That doesn’t make it wrong. When everything is going well, we have a tendency to appreciate the characteristics that make us different and unique. When faced with challenges, it becomes easier to lose sight of those same qualities and harder to appreciate them. 

The second is giving our co-workers the benefit of the doubt. Each and every one of us is doing the best we can. While I would say this is true all the time, in difficult times it becomes vitally important to bring this front of mind. 

We talk quite a bit about wellness and self-care on our blog and internally through our Teams channels. Do you have a favourite way to recharge or any tips for staying healthy mentally and physically?

As a trained yoga and meditation teacher those are my initial go-tos and have been for the past 15 or so years. If I’m not on the mat, I can be found wandering somewhere out in nature.

Meet Kim Neeson, Regional VP, Eastern Canada

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Meet Kim Neeson
Me

We are thrilled to be working with Kim Neeson, our connection to Toronto and the east. As regional vice president for Veritext Canada (East) and principal/founder of Neesons, a Veritext Company, she leverages over three decades of court reporting experience, technological insights and dedication to her clients. Kim Neeson is one of the nation’s foremost experts in advanced-technology reporting and CART. Over the years Kim has been an active member in organizations such as NCRA, STAR, CSRAO and Lawyers Feed the Hungry, and she is a fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters. Kim is a CSR (in both Ontario and Alberta) as well as an RPR, CRR and CRC. She recently became a certified coach, obtaining her Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential.

Can you share with us how you became a court reporter and what led you to found Neesons?

I originally wanted to be a lawyer, but at the time I was thinking of it, the profession had too many lawyers! My aunt knew someone who was a court reporter. I met her, saw that little machine, and I was hooked.

I created Neesons as a place where I could put my technology-forward thinking to work (this being the mid 90s, when realtime was still in its relative infancy) and create a top-of-class court reporting firm where we’d do lots of high-stakes litigation with the best-in-class court reporters around! I wanted to become a niche business with clients who appreciated the kind of services we could deliver.

Is there a trial or experience that you feel made a big impact on you and how you view the role of a court reporter?

I have been privileged to work on many important pieces of litigation over the years, such as the overturning of the wrongful conviction of Steven Truscott, the trial of the Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel (where I used my first PC and CAT software!) and the first cross-border trial ever conducted in the Nortel Networks bankruptcy, where Neesons provided much of the technology and realtime in two different jurisdictions. Court reporting was such an important part of all of these cases, and I was so honoured to be a part of history in the making. There aren’t too many careers out there where you can say that!

As Veritext expands west, what are your thoughts on this new phase of growth?

I’m super excited to bring together east and west. It’s about time! As many of the larger law firms have become national in scope, I’m so pleased that through Veritext we’ve been able to become an almost national court reporting firm. I think this uniquely positions us in the legal industry and will present for us new opportunities of growth and exposure.

How do you see this new unified national team helping better service the legal industry across Canada?

Christy and I share a passion for bringing technology to the legal industry. I see us being able to bring about even more change and enhancement to the litigation experience for our clients, with access to our expertise and know-how no matter where they are in Canada. Discoveries in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto? No problem! One-stop scheduling. One team. One vision.

Veritext’s corporate values are respect, ethics, collaboration, accountability and professionalism. Can you tell us which of these values resonates most strongly with you and why?

I don’t know that I could pick one of these values alone. I believe in and have practiced all of these values in my life, both personally and professionally. When I built my business, all of these values played a role. In fact I was spurred on to start my own business when the freelance firm I was working for didn’t have these values. I wanted to create that space where these values would be lived. I believe that by embracing our differences, we are stronger as a whole. Maybe I’d add a value: inclusion. 

Wellness and self-care are important to our team. Do you have a favourite way to recharge or any tips for staying healthy mentally and physically?

I am lucky to have an escape from the city in Blue Mountains, Ontario. So I get out and hug a tree pretty often. I also love to take my fur baby, @JaxLaxthePWD, out for long walks on the trails we have here. 

As a reporter I learned the importance of looking after your body — it does take a beating, writing on that machine all day — and so working out, stretching and doing yoga and Pilates are all a part of my routine. Keeping those upper body muscles loose and stretched is just so important!

Meet Lana Allen (again)

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We love seeing the worlds of Veritext and Reportex connecting and getting to know each other better.  Recently Jan Ballman of Veritext Minneapolis took the time to interview our very own Lana Allen, RPR, RCR, CCP. Lana is a realtime court reporter. Realtime reporting is the instantaneous translation of oral proceedings into English text. Counsel’s laptop or iPad is connected to the reporter’s secure realtime network, enabling counsel to read and annotate the text on their screen in real time during the proceedings.

Lana has over 20 years’ experience in both criminal and civil cases, with experience and an extensive knowledge base of Aboriginal, medical, marine, environmental, construction and engineering-related terminology. She also does communication access realtime translation (CART), also known as realtime captioning, for the deaf and hard of hearing.  

You can read and learn about Lana’s globetrotting ways here. 

 

Connect Series: Meet Zinnie Breitkreutz

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Zinnie is our documents specialist and copy editor. In addition to editing written content for Reportex, she is involved in quality control and the preparation of various documents and appeal products. Zinnie was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, and has loved the written word for as long as she can remember (as a child she could never understand why finding errors in books, menus and signs exhilarated her!). She currently lives in Beaumont, Alberta, with her husband and three school-aged kids.

While editing and proofreading are indeed skills that can be learned, what innate personality type do you think it takes to be an expert QC collaborator and copy editor?

While I’m not sure there is a specific personality type, I know there are definitely certain traits that anyone in this line of work needs to have. When you spend your days happily hunting for errors and inconsistencies, conscientiousness is crucial in order to stay focused and finish tasks meticulously. Perfectionism is a blessing and a curse — editors have to strive for perfection but not obsess over it and risk getting bogged down. It’s also important to be able to look at documents with curiosity and a critical eye, not being afraid to research things, point out weaknesses and make suggestions. Humility is also a beneficial trait since editors don’t generally feel the need for recognition; we tend to enjoy staying behind the scenes.

At Reportex our core values of team, mentorship, equality, community and industry are central to what we do. Veritext’s mission and corporate values dovetail nicely to our already solid foundation. Together we aim to be respectful, ethical, collaborative, accountable and professional. Can you tell us which of these values resonates most strongly with you and why?

Team and collaborative are at the top of my list, without a doubt. I am so grateful for the people I get to work with. Many people I know dread meetings, but I get to look forward to them! Drama with co‑workers? Pressure from superiors? Nope! I have a tremendous sense of gratitude for the fact that I have such a positive work environment. The most challenging projects and tight deadlines can be experienced in a completely different way when you’re working alongside the most amazing team.

Sometimes I pause and think about just how much effort goes into producing a single transcript or appeal product, and it’s incredible. I’ve always been impressed at how much we value quality at Reportex — enough to invest whatever is needed to ensure that we are delivering top-notch products every single time. This simply couldn’t happen if each member of our team didn’t have a pivotal role to play in the collaborative process.

We talk quite a bit about wellness and self-care on our blog and internally through our Teams channels. Do you have a favourite way to recharge or any tips for staying healthy mentally and physically?

Although I’ve always viewed wellness as incredibly important, I had a very disordered way of approaching it until I entered my 30s. One of the most valuable things I’ve learned over the years is that I don’t have to be perfect or live up to societal standards. I do try to incorporate intentional movement into each day, and that’s always a great choice for both my mental and physical health — but I certainly don’t do it because someone else says I should! The most important thing to me is being my best self and doing what feels good to me on any given day or in a given season of life. For instance, I might run and do strength training most days one week, and the next week I might decide that long walks and yoga feel best. One day I’ll crave and enjoy salad for lunch, but the next day might be pizza or a couple of chocolate chip cookies. I’ve found it extremely freeing to give myself permission to take up space in the world, learn how to listen to my body, find balance and avoid comparison. This, for me, is true wellness and self-care.

My faith keeps me grounded, especially in the tumultuous time we’re living in. I’m a very early riser since I love the stillness of mornings, and that’s when I’m most productive and energized. I also love a lot of random things that keep me feeling great mentally and physically (even though my husband likes to tease me for the array of comfort items and routines that I have). These are a few of my favourite things (and yes, whiskers on kittens would be on the expansive list if I had an unlimited word count!): essential oils, lots of water, my body pillow, Netflix, daily chocolate, intuitive-ish eating, kombucha, good books, buttery popcorn, coffee/tea and lingering hugs from my kids.

Connect Series: Meet Abby Morssy

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Abby is the virtual proceedings technician for Reportex, responsible for managing and facilitating virtual proceedings for clients and assisting with technical setup and support. Abby lived in a few different places growing up, including Egypt (where she was born), the UK and even Saudi Arabia. She moved to Canada in early 2017 and was particularly fond of cloudy and rainy Vancouver as her first Canadian city as it was a nostalgic reminder of the London weather that she had grown accustomed to.

As someone who is in the thick of it, what do you see as being the growing needs or trends when it comes to virtual proceedings?

I believe virtual proceedings are here to stay, even as things slowly get back to normal, with a hybrid model being the more likely outcome. As the virtual sector continues to experience growth, connectivity technologies such as 5G and improved wifi will be essential in providing and maintaining high-speed connections. Consumer-grade devices with enhanced hardware that can manage virtual communications will become more widespread and cheaper. Software companies will continue improving their apps to improve accessibility for consumers, especially those who are less technically able. We’ve seen that with Webex and Teams at the start of the pandemic as they looked to simplify their user interfaces to compete with Zoom.

At Reportex our core values of team, mentorship, equality, community and industry are central to what we do. Veritext’s mission and corporate values dovetail nicely to our already solid foundation. Together we aim to be respectful, ethical, collaborative, accountable and professional. Can you tell us which of these values resonates most strongly with you and why?

I would say collaboration, particularly when it comes to a work environment. Impactful collaboration fosters a strong sense of community. Actively listening to fellow team members and supporting them to reach common goals leads to close-knit relationships and stronger bonds. It also makes it easier for them to reciprocate when others need help and support. This contributes to a healthier work mindset — that we all have a part to play, and we learn, succeed and fail together.

We talk quite a bit about wellness and self-care on our blog and internally through our Teams channels. Do you have a favourite way to recharge or any tips for staying healthy mentally and physically?

I am grateful to have discovered and have gotten into meditation during the pandemic, and I credit it with reducing a great deal of stress in my day-to-day life. Doing a 10- to 20-minute session in the morning before starting my day and another session in the evening to unwind has helped me greatly in decluttering my mind and getting me to focus on things that truly matter. I have become calmer, less reactive, less stressed and more grateful since building this daily habit, and now I can’t imagine my days without it.

Are you still fond of cloudy and rainy Vancouver weather? 

It’s almost customary to complain about rain when it’s wet and cold and to wish for its return when temperatures are soaring. However, after experiencing one of the hottest summers this year, I’m so glad to see the city gradually returning to cloud and rain. Plus this also means it’s pumpkin spice latte time!

You can learn more about Abby’s virtual world and our other e-Solutions services here.

Connect Series: Meet Jenni Reed

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Meet Jenni Reed. As our legal training assistant, Jenni helps manage the onboarding process for the talented people who create and edit Reportex’s quality transcripts. She is involved in editing and writing new wiki material as part of the wiki reboot team as well as helping to keep our training and reference resources up to date. She is also part of our busy QC team, preparing our transcripts for printing.

Jenni grew up in the United States and moved to England after she graduated, where she lived for many years. After making a return to the US, she moved up to Alberta.

Jenni has always been interested in proofreading and editing, so once she finished homeschooling her three children in 2017, she decided to use her eye for detail and love of structure and coherence to pursue a career in transcript proofreading. She has been with Reportex for two years.

At Reportex our core values of team, mentorship, equality, community and industry are central to what we do. Veritext’s mission and corporate values dovetail nicely to our already solid foundation. Together we aim to be respectful, ethical, collaborative, accountable and professional. Can you tell us which of these values resonates most strongly with you and why?

I would have to go with collaborative. One of the things I love most about Reportex is the strong sense of teamwork and of all of us being part of an amazing bigger picture. Over time I learn more and more about what different people do here, and I think it’s great that although there are so many of us, no one is just a name or a role, but everyone is valued as an individual.

I am so thankful for the people I work with on various teams. I love our meetings and how we have formed very functional as well as fun relationships with one another. When there’s a huge learning curve, we tackle it together. When there’s a challenge or a huge workload to work our way through, everyone pours themselves into it. There is definitely strength in numbers! Considering that so many of us work from home, I think it’s a real testimony to what Christy has put together here at Reportex that we can feel like such a close-knit group.

We talk quite a bit about wellness and self-care on our blog and internally through our Teams channels. Do you have a favourite way to recharge or any tips for staying healthy mentally and physically?

I’m not as good as I’d like to be at fitting proper workouts in, but I do love to get up from my desk and move throughout the day. If you were a fly on my kitchen wall, you’d see me doing funny things like jumping jacks or toe-touches while I heat my coffee in the microwave! I’m finding that doing some yoga during my lunch breaks is both relaxing and invigorating. And if I can get out for a hike on a weekend, then life is good. I’m working on being more deliberate about what I eat and drink, not just grabbing whatever but trying to make healthy choices, and I definitely feel better when I have that focus.

For mental health I find that getting out and gardening, going for a walk or sitting on the porch with all my cats (we have eight of them!) feels like good “me time.” I like to start my morning early so that I have time to just be myself for a little while before work, whether that means gardening, reading, praying or even just playing a game on my tablet. By the time 8 o’clock rolls around, I’m ready to go!

What’s easier: managing a group of editors and proofers or homeschooling three children?

Haha! Hands down, it’s got to be number one! Homeschooling was such a joy, but I came to it from a place of thinking I’d never do that. My daughter begged for years, so finally I looked into it, and I was amazed to find that it was just what we needed. With different ages and personalities it was a real juggling act, for sure, but we loved that we weren’t confined to what was taught in the schools. We got to do English and world history, learn about botany and animals and read lots of good books together. With all of that of course comes having to motivate everyone to do their schoolwork.

I enjoy being able to interact with each of the editors as I help with job assignments and answering proofreaders’ questions, and I do hope that I’m able to be a help to them where they need it. Like I said before, we’re all valuable parts of the team, and being a part of that with them is such a privilege.

Connect Series: Meet Miki Patel

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As QC facilitator, Miki ensures each of our transcripts goes through a rigorous editing process. Miki lives in Clearwater, Florida. She just recently moved from Hoffman Estates, Illinois. She specializes in proofreading court transcripts.

Can you tell us why you love proofreading?

I love proofreading because it can be applied to almost any industry. Wherever words are used, proofreaders are needed to ensure that the quality of content is met. I also like that proofreading cannot be 100 percent automated. The need for quality proofreading will never go away because automation cannot replace the human eye.

Have you noticed a big difference between Canadian transcripts and US transcripts? Was it hard to adjust to our Canadianisms?

I haven’t noticed much of a difference between Canadian transcripts and US transcripts. One thing I have noticed is that what we call “discoveries” in Canada, we call “depositions” in the US.

The biggest adjustment for me was getting used to the Canadian spellings. Thankfully, we can change the English dictionary from American English to British English (close enough to Canadian English) in CaseCAT, so that definitely made the adjustment easier since I had spellcheck catch all of the instances of American English when I used it, which was a lot.

At Reportex our core values of team, mentorship, equality, community and industry are central to what we do. Veritext’s mission and corporate values dovetail nicely to our already solid foundation. Together we aim to be respectful, ethical, collaborative, accountable and professional. Can you tell us which of these values resonates most strongly with you and why?

Being ethical is a value that strongly resonates with me because it plays such an important role in transcript production. It’s our job to preserve the record and confidentiality of all of the information contained within the record.

We talk quite a bit about wellness and self-care on our blog and internally, through our Teams channels. Do you have a favourite way to recharge or any tips for staying healthy mentally and physically?

Now that I live close to the beach and the oceans, visiting the beach just makes me forget about all of the stress in my life. There’s something about sun exposure and the ocean air that is just so good for mental health. Since I grew up in the Midwest of the United States, where I didn’t experience nice weather all year round, I didn’t realize the mental health benefits of being close to the beach until I experienced it myself. I also get some physical activity on the beach too by getting into the water and moving around. I can’t swim, but I try.

My tip on staying healthy mentally and physically is to get out more. Even if there’s no beach around you, I’m sure there’s a nice park where you can hike and enjoy the sun if it’s sunny; otherwise there’s always a gym to get your physical exercise, although it won’t be the same as being outdoors. I’m a workaholic, but I try to enjoy the weekends as much as I can. It’s good to recharge once in a while, and weekends are the days when I do that.

Thank you Miki, for sharing your joy of the written word.

We’d love for YOU to vote for us!

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We are honoured to once again be nominated by you, our amazing clients, for the Canadian Lawyer Readers Choice Awards for 2021.

We’ve had a big year, building partnerships that matter, to provide the best court reporting and legal solutions across the province. Now, we hope we can count on your vote. 

Our category is #25 Court Reporting and Deposition Services.

Our partners at United Reporting are also nominated in that category and congratulations to them!

You can find the link to the voting survey here.   You have until August 20th to submit your survey answers. 

Connect Series: Meet Shishi Fan

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Shishi is Reportex’s production coordinator. She has the responsibility of printing, assembling, and couriering all legal transcripts and making sure they are delivered to our clients on time. She is also responsible for providing clients with invoices for reporter-attended proceedings, medical transcriptions, and mediations.

Shishi is a true-blue Vancouverite (born and raised here) and another indispensable HQ staffer.

Your talents are in great demand at Reportex. What personality traits do you believe are most important for the role of production coordinator?

It’s hard to pick one in particular, but the ones that come to my mind are adaptability, persistence, and patience. There are many small pieces in my job, so I need all three of these traits to set a schedule for the day (and/or week) to juggle and determine the priority of said tasks. If certain tasks don’t get done in a day, they will snowball into a little mountain, and I’ll find myself trying to dig out of the mess later. If I have to pick just one, then I will say persistence. You need persistence standing in front of a mountain of transcripts, persistence in getting answers from clients, persistence in staring at numbers on invoices every day, and persistence in chasing fellow co-workers for their coffee orders every Friday.

All in all, I would say you need to be a good multitasker with a weird memory reminding you of things that Slack reminders don’t.

At Reportex our core values of team, mentorship, equality, community, and industry are central to what we do. Which of these values resonates most with you and why?

I would say team and community. I feel I am working with a highly efficient team that helps me while I help them out too. I can’t do my job without my fellow colleagues, and I know they rely on me as well. We have so many people working in Reportex doing their own things now, and Reportex needs every one of us. I can still remember the days when I had to share an office with Kim and Max. I’m delighted to see how much the Reportex team has expanded.

We have been discussing wellness on the blog and our internal Slack channels. Do you have a favourite way to recharge or any tips to share on staying well, especially during these COVID months?

It’s no big secret, but my favourite way of recharging is definitely napping. And not just any napping — I feel the best napping is on weekend afternoons with the guilty pleasure of wasting the best sun hours away. I don’t see the need to force myself out in those best sun hours if it’s not in me. I think what’s most important is to feel comfortable and allow yourself to feel comfortable. After a good recharge nap, I will get up again and get going on my tasks for the day. And then at the end of the day I can reward myself with some snacks. I go through a cycle of work, rest, work, rest because inevitably I will burn out if all I do is work, work, work without thanking and rewarding myself in some way.

So yes, I do talk to myself in my head occasionally saying Shishi, if you finish this task, you can go eat some of that chocolate; it’s waiting for you; you can do it!!

We all need a bit of encouragement to get through the days sometimes, and chocolate sounds like a great way to reward ourselves!