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 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.

Community Over Competition – a vision for the future of court reporting

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As you will have seen, the Reportex Group has recently made some very big and very exciting announcements. Notably, the court reporters from United Reporting Service have joined our family and by extension, we have all made the leap into a major national expansion with Veritext Legal Solutions, the global leader in litigation solutions.

What this means for our clients is that they will now have access to a more streamlined integration of technologies, efficiencies and boardrooms across the country, while still working with the teams that they know and love. It also means that we will be able to carry the Reportex vision across North America as we partner with Neesons, Ace, Amicus, and Royal and engage in leading the charge of shaping the future of legal solutions in Canada.

What it means for our team is that we get to engage in an extraordinary stage of growth as we explore new territory, build new relationships and carry our values and “thoughtful extras” into a broader arena.

At Reportex, we have established five core values that drive all of the decisions we make from new product development to community engagement and industry support. They are: Team, Community, Industry, Mentorship and Equality. We talk about them a lot – on social media, in team meetings… these values form the foundation for our focus as a team and as a company.

Our industry is facing many challenges. So over the past two years, we have been identifying partnerships with likeminded court reporting firms who have agreed with our philosophy that we are stronger together. We have joined forces (and resources) with All-Star, Island, Kamloops and now United with the mindset of protecting, preserving and continuing to build our vision for the future and fortifying our community.

Our alliance with Veritext was a natural fit in both a professional sense as well as in alignment with these values. Together, we adopt the mission which is “to be an integral part of our client’s legal process by providing relevant solutions, delivered with superb service and industry-leading technology.”

Veritext’s mission and corporate values dovetail quite nicely to add dimension to our already solid foundation. Together, we aim to be Respectful, Ethical, Collaborative, Accountable and Professional in all aspects of our business as we continue to grow, evolve and shape the future of court reporting and legal solutions across Canada.


“As we delve into this new realm, I can see a profound opportunity – an opportunity to continue to grow and evolve. An opportunity to reimagine what’s in front of us. An opportunity to have a voice and lead the charge on the national stage. Most of all – an opportunity to create a strong future for this industry in a new and exciting way.”

– Christy Pratt, Regional VP Canada West, Veritext

Two talented teams… under one roof!

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The time has come to announce an exciting partnership a long time in the making…

We are thrilled to welcome the exceptional team from United Reporting Service to the Reportex family in downtown Vancouver.

Reportex Agencies and United Reporting have always had a strong and collegial relationship and with our collective years of experience and extraordinary talent, this is a collaboration that will truly shape the future of court reporting and legal solutions in BC.  Our goal is always to provide an incomparable experience for clients, and this partnership packs a powerful punch.

We are thrilled to join forces.

The legendary team of United reporters will be working from our new Reportex offices and all in-person bookings will now be held at 700 – 925 West Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver, making Reportex the premier location for all your litigation needs.

It’s a new dawn for the future of court reporting across Canada, as we step into our future… together.

Shaping the Future of Legal Solutions in Canada

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Today marks a critical step towards the advancement of legal solutions nationwide.

Reportex is joining forces with Veritext Legal Solutions, the global leader in litigation solutions, in a remarkable opportunity to expand our services from coast to coast!

The Reportex team – which includes All-Star by Reportex, Island by Reportex and Kamloops by Reportex –  joins Kim Neeson and the teams at Neesons, Amicus, Ace and Royal Reporting in this collaborative effort, building an influential presence as the Canadian arm of Veritext Legal Solutions.

Partnering with the Veritext team will allow us to continue to lead the charge in the development of innovative legal solutions – like e-trials, SIP courtroom conferencing, webcasting and other technical services – on a national scale.

As we shape the future of our industry, our clients will have access to new efficiencies and leading-edge legal services all across the country, along with a supportive and integrated network of court reporting, e-solutions and effective legal tech professionals at their fingertips.

Under the Veritext umbrella, we are now able to offer you reporting, transcription and integrated virtual services across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, and our cross-border clients will now have access to the same leading-edge services throughout the United States.

“As leaders in our industry, we must continue to evolve. There are many challenges that lie ahead and sustaining the future of our industry is at the forefront of my mind. The Reportex team is thrilled to join forces with Veritext in continuing to develop an innovative presence on the national stage. We are well-positioned to revolutionize the scope of legal solutions in Canada.” – Christy Pratt, Regional Vice-President, Canada West

We look forward to this expansion of our team across Canada and we could not be more excited to build this future… together.

Click here for a personal message from Christy Pratt.

#ShapingTheFuture #VeritextCanada

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! 

How to Celebrate Canada Day

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by Kerry Sauriol, Marketing Coordinator

Last year we all felt cheated out of our Canada Day fun thanks to COVID-19. This year feels even worse and for so many more reasons. The pandemic has dragged on for over a year now, despite advancements in vaccine distribution and slightly lower numbers here in BC. While we have not experienced the lockdown rules that many provinces and countries have endured, we are all still feeling a bit put out about the restrictions that have hampered many things that we all took for granted.

When my kids were small, one of my favourite places to take them to celebrate Canada Day was Queen’s Park in New Westminster. As an expat from the UK, it felt more British to my mom and myself. However, after living in Canada for over 40 years, I am fully aware of how loaded with a horrific history that feeling really is. 

If an immigrant like myself is feeling overwhelmed by the news about the children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, and the many graves still to be found across Canada, imagine the feelings of the Indigenous people who are once again having to face the facts of the intergenerational trauma that has been placed upon them to this day.   

Over the last year and a bit COVID-19 has exposed the many inequities that the people of Canada face. This includes (but is certainly not limited to) access to healthcare, sick pay, work-at-home opportunities, lack of safe work environments, unemployment and the underhoused.  The news surrounding these issues has been one bad story after the next. For a country that prides itself on equal opportunity, it’s hard (and controversial) for many to find anything to celebrate in all of that.

Then we all got more bad news: 215 bodies of children found in a mass grave at a residential school in Kamloops. And the numbers keep growing with 715 unmarked graves in Saskatchewan being announced on June 24. If this news was shocking and upsetting to the non-indigenous citizens of Canada, imagine how it feels to the First Nations people? As Alison Tedford, diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant, recently said in a Facebook post:

“It’s hard to celebrate a country where people in power don’t care what happened to people like you, like your grandparents, like your parents, like your sisters and cousins.”

So what do we do?

We listen. We learn.

At Reportex we are looking at how we can make sure we are walking the talk, especially when it comes to living our core values: team, mentorship, equality, community and industry. This may take the form of sensitivity training as part of our onboarding and an audit of our current diversity and inclusivity mandates. We also want to make sure that we as a legal service are inclusive and sensitive to the needs of our First Nations clients.  

For the rest of us it means taking a long, hard look at what it means to be a Canadian and what we want it to mean moving forward. How do we make Canada a better place for all?

Part of it means becoming more aware of our own inherent biases and our blindspots when it comes to understanding what living in Canada is like for other people. We need to be able to have the uncomfortable conversations and make the effort to uncover the truths of how this country was built and the cost to those who were here already.

In an article for VancouverMom.ca Alison said:

“I believe the key to reducing and, ideally, eliminating racism and race-based violence is increasing understanding of each other. It’s easy to lash out at groups of nameless, faceless people who are different from you. Familiarity can reduce the tendency to lump people in as ‘others.’ When we make room in our circle for people who are different from us, we expand our circle of responsibility for each other and leave less room for hate.”

So while we do have many reasons to celebrate being Canadian today, we can also spend some time getting to know more about the people whose land we now exist upon:

We need to own the discomfort that these new revelations and the many other atrocities put upon the First Nations people of Canada and sit with them so we can reconcile all the negative aspects of our Canada with the positives that have made this country great. We can then take that knowledge and move forward with the goal of making this place better for all who live here.

Chasing the Taillights

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by Julia Chalifoux, Project Manager

The car is leaving whether you are ready or not.

Our experiences shape us in all kinds of ways. I find that the lessons we learn as we evolve as humans take on multiple meanings. After losing my father-in-law this past fall, I began to reflect on my relationship with my own dad and the lessons I learned from him. As a pouty child and sometimes sour teenager, my dad’s lessons weren’t always easy. Still, they instilled in me my abilities to work hard, navigate challenge and practise resilience — abilities I now value very much.

This past year our personal and professional lives have demanded these abilities like no other. And much like dad’s lessons, navigating these hasn’t been easy. Still, trusting the process and knowing the magic of time and perspective, I feel confident that one day we will all look back on this past year with an attitude of gratitude as this will be the year that we shaped our future like no other.

I want to share some lessons learned from my dad as a demonstration of the importance of perspective:

Growing up, my dad and I attended the same high school, the only high school in our small town located in the British Columbia Kootenays. He was a chemistry teacher, and I, his student. And while being 13 and having your dad teach you the periodic table was mildly mortifying (after all, what do you call your dad who is also your teacher?), it did come with its benefits, such as a free ride to school if you were ready on time. That was the household rule: if you were not in the car by the time he was, the car was leaving and you would be left to your own devices to get to school. Most of the time I made it, but there were still many mornings that I was forced to walk.

That household rule taught me a few important lessons:

  1. The importance of being on time.
  2. I was not the centre of the universe.
  3. Often in life the car is leaving whether you are ready or not.

While the first two lessons are obvious, it is the third that has stuck with me the most, as recently the landscape of how, where and what we do for work has changed dramatically.

In short, work has felt a bit like that car in the driveway, peeling out before I have had time to load my backpack and get out the door. I feel like I am chasing the taillights, hoping that my dad will see me waving frantically running behind the car and that he’ll stop. But inevitably the speed of the car overtakes my legs, the taillights fade and I am left to trudge.

While trudging is not the end of the world, it naturally comes with its own set of consequences (see lesson 1 above).

Looking back, I now recognize that those days my dad left me to my own devices to get to school were not meant to be cruel (although I am sure I cursed him at the time); they were simply fuelled by the fact that he had other priorities and responsibilities to fulfill that (gasp!) were more important than me (see lesson 2 above). His job is what put food on our table, and thus him getting to work on time (and therefore keeping his job) was simply more important than ensuring my comfortable transport.

When you are the one left standing in the cold driveway staring at the fading taillights, it is easy to think that the driver is a jerk. But over the years I have come to realize it is not the driver who is a jerk — it just is what it is. The driver is simply doing what they must do to fulfill their responsibilities and move forward.

Growing up, my car ride to school was a means to an end for me (one that I would need to navigate for five years). My dad, however, was driving the road of a lifetime. He was in constant pursuit of an ever‑fading sunset: post-secondary education for his children and retirement.

I remind myself of this lesson these days when sometimes at work I feel like I am back in the driveway chasing the taillights. I remember that not only am I chasing the taillights, but there is also someone else chasing the sunset — or in our case at Reportex, the sunrise.

Further, I remind myself of the importance of being on time and getting in the car. The car (like life) is moving forward whether you are ready or not. Best buckle in and get ready for the ride and sunrise.

Connect Series: Meet Monika Szucs

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Monika is the virtual proceedings technician for Reportex. She is responsible for managing and facilitating virtual proceedings for clients and assisting with technical setup and support. We appreciate the tips and help she shares with us all to keep things running smoothly.

Monika is a lifelong learner with a passion for all things digital. She has a digital design and development diploma that has given her knowledge of website development, graphic design, UI/UX, marketing and project management, and she is working her way towards her Bachelor of Business Administration. Additionally, she has obtained her medical office assistant and applied computer information systems certificates.

You seem to be always learning something new or taking more courses. Does the work you do lead the direction you take in your education, or is it the other way around?

When I was younger, I wanted to try many different job opportunities and gain experience in different areas not only to get an understanding of how everything works together but also to figure out what I wanted to focus on. I believe that knowledge is power. It is important to always keep learning even if it is in another area. You never know how the different information you learn can help make your life easier/better in the long run.

Stability is very important to me. Jobs and technologies are consistently changing. In life everything can and will change. This means having a strong foundation is important because no matter what happens, I feel I will be able to take care of my future.

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 believe team and equality are the top two values that resonate the most with me. It is important to have a team that can communicate and work on projects together. Once you have a team that is in sync, it makes completing your job a lot easier. Equality is important because I believe everyone has something unique to contribute to a team. Everyone should be given an opportunity no matter who they are. To get the maximum potential from an employee, an organization needs to leverage every individual’s strengths and find ways for them to work with others collaboratively within a team.

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?

My favourite way to recharge would be to try new places to eat, listen to music and/or walk around outside on a nice sunny day. The best way to allow yourself to use the maximum potential energy throughout the day is to eat healthy, drink lots of water and get 8 to 12 hours of sleep each night. If I really want to boost my energy because I have been overworking, I will try sleeping for 12 hours straight for three to four days in a row.

Monika is an amazing and dedicated member of the team. Her drive to learn and grow helps keep the Reportex engine running.