Press Release Announcement

Press Release: Veritext Legal Solutions Releases Smart Summary

Livingston, New Jersey – March 13, 2024 – Veritext Legal Solutions, the leader in court reporting services and innovative litigation support solutions, today announces the release of Smart Summary, an AI-generated and editable draft summarization of the official proceeding transcript.

Smart Summary is delivered alongside the certified transcript and provides legal teams with efficiency when it comes to case strategy and the transcript summarization process. With Smart Summary, the legal team has access to a draft page-line summary in an editable format to easily mark up text and highlight key testimony.

Benefits of Smart Summary include:

  • Convenient delivery with the certified transcript and access anytime via the MyVeritext web portal.
  • Access to the power of AI without the risks of open engine models training, storing or using sensitive and confidential information.
  • Production in adherence to Veritext’s stringent data security protocols.
  • Delivery in Microsoft Word so the summary can be modified, highlighted, etc.
  • Preformatting for the needs of legal teams, including transcript page-line references alongside summarization.
  • A quality review by a human before being sent to a client.

“Smart Summary uses the power of AI to give legal teams a head start on producing their transcript summaries. It’s delivered alongside the certified transcript, formatted in a page-line style and can be easily modified,” states Mike Murray, director of technical and creative solutions at Veritext. “The best part is that Smart Summary is created with the same data security standards that Veritext is known for – which means that even though it’s AI-generated content, legal teams don’t have to worry about their confidential information being shared or showing up somewhere public.”

Smart Summary will be returned with all transcripts delivered before May 1 at no additional cost. To learn more about Smart Summary, visit www.veritext.com/smartsummary/.

An Interview with Kim Johnson, CSR(A), RPR: Capturing Life’s Words and Moments

As a Certified Shorthand Reporter and Certified Realtime Captioner, Kim Johnson’s journey in the industry has taken her from live newsrooms to remote settings, capturing the spoken word and transforming it into accessible text for a diverse audience.  We asked her to spare a moment of her busy life and share her thoughts about her career, her transition from court reporting to CART captioning, and the significance of finding joy both in work and personal pursuits. 

We enjoyed seeing the photos you shared from the CLC Convention in Montreal.  Was this one of the biggest captioning jobs you have done?   If not, do share your other experiences.

That CLC job was definitely the largest onsite job I have done.  I believe there were 4,000 delegates at that convention.   Although I have certainly captioned large remote events for Veritext since joining the Neesons captioning team in the summer of 2019, I did spend 7 years before that on the broadcast side of the captioning industry where I captioned live news and sporting events.   The majority of my captioning career has been done completely remotely from the comfort of my own home and I almost never get to see the end user or ever really know just how many are watching me work.   Montreal was a “wow” moment for me for sure!

What drew you to the industry of captioning, CART, court, and the Court Reporting and Captioning program at NAIT generally in the first place?

I always knew I wanted to do something involving the legal profession.  At the time in the mid ’90s when I was investigating careers, my mom worked at an answering service and one of their clients was a court reporter.  I made a phone call and did some career investigation and now here I am almost 25 years in.  Early on I realized that I enjoyed the writing part of the job much more than the producing transcripts part.  I was lucky because the firm I was working for had a CART contract with a post-secondary institution in the city, so I made the jump from court reporting to CART/captioning.

What advice do you have for anyone looking for a new career? What is the best way to find out if this is the field for them?

Advice for anyone looking for a new career?  Your career is not necessarily who you are but it does occupy a great deal of your time, so do something you enjoy.  

My suggestion for someone who is thinking of entering this field (either court reporting or captioning) is to reach out to one of us and maybe even job shadow.  We are all more than happy to talk about the pros (and cons) of this profession.  I would also recommend checking out the NCRA A to Z Intro to Steno online program.

Lastly, wellness and self-care are important to our team. Do you have a favourite way to recharge, or can you share any tips for staying healthy mentally and physically, both at work and at home?

It’s critical to have hobbies and interests outside of work.  I’m a runner and I enjoy doing yoga.  My husband and I have a 10-month-old basset hound puppy (Agnes) and keeping her out of trouble takes up a lot of my time these days!

To book a CART provider in Canada, click here.

Boardroom Rentals in the Heart of Downtown Vancouver

Have you downsized your own office space? Perhaps you need a truly quiet space to settle in and work on a project or a beautiful place to meet with a client or colleague. Maybe you just need a break from working from home. We are here to help.

Introducing corporate meeting space designed for your new normal

There are some instances when attending a Zoom meeting from your kitchen table with a virtual background simply won’t cut it. Our new space in the heart of downtown Vancouver has 33 boardrooms, with 20,000 square feet of meeting space and the flexibility to accommodate both individuals and groups of up to 30. Our boardrooms are designed to create effective in-person, virtual, and hybrid connections – whatever you need.

If you require catering, an extra monitor, videoconferencing equipment, technical support, or office services such as printing, we can provide that too. Our downtown amenities include spacious and flexible boardrooms, state-of-the-art technology, comfortable, private areas, and vault-like soundproofing. We have on-site technical support and our offices are filled with custom wall art by local artist-in-residence Shari Pratt.

Sometimes we just need a change of scenery – and our views are pretty spectacular.

Give us a call and book your next meeting today. 

Connect Series: Meet Britney Rumbaugh, Medicolegal Editor/Proofer


One of our key service areas that is not related to court reporting is independent medical examination (IME) transcription. This is a rather large umbrella term that covers the many aspects of medicolegal transcription services that are required by the medical and legal fields. We are proud of the experts we retain to review these transcripts to the exacting standards of quality and accuracy that we expect in all our work. 

Britney Rumbaugh is one of our editors and proofers with a passion and interest in medicolegal documentation. She took some time to share why she loves this field of work.

Could you tell us in your own words what a medicolegal editor/proofer does?

The medicolegal editor/proofer is a medical language specialist and skilled researcher with the ability to analyze lengthy, complex medicolegal documentation while checking for ambiguities, inflammatory language (as seen in the court), conflicting information, incongruency of facts, false information, missing information, grammatical errors, formatting errors, spelling/typos, etc.

I edit and/or proof reports that have been received straight from an expert or have gone through our in-house transcription services. These types of reports include (but are not limited to) independent medical examinations (IMEs), supplementation reports, cost of future care (COFC) reports, functional ability assessments (FAAs), future cost of care (FCC) reports, functional capacity evaluations (FCEs), medicolegal reports and addendums.

Did you find this career, or did it find you?

I have always had a passion for biology and a thirst for knowledge. I feel that the position I have found myself in is exactly where I need to be, and I feel that the decisions I have made along the way have put me here. I enjoy what I do as well as enjoy the flexibility to be able to work from home — something that is not easily obtained in the medical world.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

There is a great sense of pride in being able to continually expand one’s knowledge while simultaneously helping experts in the field.

What has surprised you the most?

How passionate I am about helping deliver high-quality reports.

As technology continues to change how we all work, can you look into your crystal ball and tell us your vision of the future of the medicolegal transcription/editing industry?

As I have been in this industry for over a decade now, I have been able to watch the major shift in technology. There are many programs on the market that will attempt to do the job of a medical transcriptionist, but in my opinion they fall short. Most often these programs are “trained” to the speaker, and after time (and usually much frustration) they are eventually able to produce a document of subpar standards. Unfortunately, most experts will need to edit the produced document to some degree after it is churned out — and many professionals do not have the extra time to do this.

I feel that good medicolegal transcriptionists and medicolegal editors are irreplaceable, and the demand for our services will only increase as we see a transition into more multidisciplinary approaches to care and recovery (occupational therapy combined with physiotherapy, chiropractic, massage, psychology, etc.).

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 feel that all of Veritext’s listed values resonate strongly with me. They seem to work in unison — but if I have to choose one, I think respect should be foremost. I feel that respect is a key component in a healthy workplace culture and would allow for strong values across the board.

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 love to “make old new again.” I enjoy refinishing old furniture. The before and after is always a big driver for me, and the whole process is very therapeutic.

I think the biggest thing for our mental health is to remember to make time for those closest to us as well as for ourselves! Find something that motivates you outside. My family and I enjoy many outside activities and are always on the go. Do what makes you happy!

Are You Ready for Realtime Reporting?

Do you know what realtime reporting is?  Simply put, it is the instantaneous translation of spoken proceedings directly into text.

How does this happen? Counsel’s laptop or iPad is connected via a secure realtime network, enabling counsel to read and annotate the text in real time during the proceedings.

You do not even have to be in the same room, province or state. We provide secure remote realtime to anywhere in the world via encrypted internet connections using a program called CaseViewNet.

CaseViewNet is a free transcript viewer created by Stenograph. CaseViewNet provides interactive realtime access to testimony through the court reporter’s private wifi network or a wired connection, and it updates all edits during the session.

Your realtime reporter will guide you through the connection process, and our detailed written instructions provide step-by-step guidance on creating issue codes, marking the text, searching for keywords and running annotation reports.

You can learn more about how passionate our realtime reporters are about their work here and here.

Why request realtime reporting?

Because you have everything right there at your fingertips. Being without means you have no way to quickly review previous testimony, mark issues or search through the transcript.

The benefits of realtime are many, including the following:

  • With a live feed you can instantly read back and review the witness’s response.
  • The marking and annotation features reduce the time it takes to summarize transcripts.
  • The feed can be searched, marked, annotated and reviewed during the proceeding to ensure important followups are not overlooked.
  • Non-examining counsel can mark issues to be addressed in their examination and use the realtime feed to determine whether a question was objectionable or needs further clarification.
  • While the transcript in progress is yet to be certified, it can be a powerful tool in preparation for the next day’s proceedings.
  • The ability to effectively attend proceedings remotely eliminates travel difficulties and costs.

Book your realtime reporter today!

Visit our Realtime Reporting page to learn more about how we can help you.

Going Paperless: An Introduction to E-Discoveries and Transcript Bundles

“Going paperless” in the legal world has been a challenge that many of us have been facing head on for many years now. In an industry that has been nearly built on documents, files and bankers boxes, it can be a terrifying endeavour.

Clearly the adaptation of virtual and digital technology into the legal justice system is not based on jumping on the latest bandwagon and grabbing the shiny new toy. In fact we already have a working model here in BC: the Civil Resolution Tribunal combines proven technology with flexibility and case management to resolve small-value property and land disputes. Applicants can avoid a pricey trip to the supreme court, where legal costs could easily end up higher than the original sums in dispute.

The main goal is access to justice for all people, no matter where they are or what their circumstances are. Our commitment is to develop and provide tech that connects, and we want the use of technology to enhance rather than hinder people’s experiences.

At the heart of all legal proceedings is the record — official and supportive documentation in all forms. For many the idea of going paperless seems to contravene everything that we envision when we think about the world of law and immediately picture stacks of documents and piles of bankers boxes filled with files. How do we truly manage all of that digitally?

Going paperless needs to be cost-effective, easily managed and accessible to all involved. With advanced planning and cooperation between counsel and the court, paperless trials will not only save time but also significantly reduce legal fees, eliminate the costs of reproducing and handling paper, streamline the presentation of evidence and lead to better trial outcomes.

E-discoveries and transcript bundles are here, and we can help.

Digital technology can allow the sharing of court information (such as disclosures and discovery data) between participants effectively and with privacy and security requirements in place.

Our transcript bundles allow you to unlock the power of your cross-examination by placing both the oral testimony and the documents you put to the witness right at your fingertips, directly where they are referenced in the transcript. Judges love the convenience of reviewing witness testimony, trial exhibits, closing argument and case law with the click of a hyperlink, particularly since our bundles are fully searchable, with excerpts from the proceedings easily copied/pasted directly into the judge’s reasons for judgment.

You can see a sample of a transcript bundle here.

“We remain in an era of threat, with risks of barely functioning court systems, greatly reduced access to justice, and, in turn, a potential weakening of the rule of law. We are also in an era of opportunity — the chance to build boldly on the shift of attitude and on demonstrable recent successes with technology, and to put in place improved, sustainable court services that are much more accessible than today’s.”

 — Richard Susskind, “The Future of Courts”

Going paperless is not just part of the new digital court system; it can also better accommodate remote working arrangements in your law offices while keeping documents more organized and secure. By going paperless, you can also make a positive environmental impact by leading the change towards protecting the environment.

Contact us today to learn more.

Community Building and the Future of Court Reporting in Canada

No matter where you are located, as a court reporter you have likely experienced huge shifts in the industry. With COVID-19 rapidly transporting most legal services to virtual and hybrid systems, you have embraced navigating this new technology, from digital exhibit marking to document sharing.

At Reportex we have always tried to make the lives of our court reporters better with our thoughtful extras. We provide in-house training via workshops and one-on-one support to ensure comfort and proficiency in the latest court reporting technology and transcript editing practices. Our QC team is also integral in ensuring our consistently high standards as well as sharing useful tips along the way. We pride ourselves in continually fine-tuning our processes to provide reliable and seamless court proceedings for all our clients.

And now we want to do even more. We hope you will watch this space to see more news and stories that affect your life and what you do for a living. And more importantly, what we — now a Veritext company — can do for you as part of our expanding team. We are currently revamping our blog, developing a specialized newsletter, using LinkedIn to meaningfully connect as well as planning more events and workshops to speak to what is important to you, the heart of our business.

Meet Our Director of Court Reporting for Canada

You all know our realtime reporter Leanne Kowalyk. She was our operations director, and now Leanne is the director of court reporting for Canada. Leanne has walked in your shoes throughout her career and is now taking the lead in reporter relations. We asked Leanne for her thoughts on the changes we are experiencing at Reportex and throughout the industry at large across Canada.

If you had a crystal ball in front of you, what would you see lying ahead for the role of a court reporter in the future?

I believe there will always be exciting opportunities for court reporters across Canada. Will there be changes along the way? Of course. Evolution is a necessary part of sustainable opportunity.

I expect that we will lose a percentage of our workforce over the next five years as reporters retire faster than they are coming out of school, so I see a transition on the horizon in that regard. In the States as a whole they expect to be down a third of reporters five years from now. I expect a similar trend here, and the impact of that will be felt in different ways depending on which province you’re in and the current landscape.

In BC we anticipate the insurance caps and “no fault” will begin to impact us over approximately that same time frame, so in a perfect world those two issues will equalize to a certain extent. Having said that, I expect hybrid/virtual work is here to stay, so in joining the Veritext family, we will be opening up that national pool of work to all Veritext reporters across Canada, depending on the designations they hold. In the event that we do end up with a shortage of work here in BC, it will only serve as an opportunity to lend our neighbours a hand across Canada when they are running short (and vice versa).

And what do you envision as your role here in creating that vision?

My responsibility is to anticipate and help navigate these changes in the most smooth, inclusive and supportive way possible while trying to make it a fun experience along the way! The more doors that reporters have open before them, the more opportunities they will have, and there truly are so many. My role is to ensure those doors are open to our reporters so that when they are ready, they will possess all the tools they need to walk right on through them (should they choose to) feeling confident and capable.

For the “newbs” just starting their court reporting careers, can you share any stories from your experiences that highlight how dynamic the role can be?

I would say I’ve experienced the most dynamic part of reporting when faced with the unexpected. Whether it be replacing a sick reporter last minute on an unfamiliar realtime trial or feeling like a rock star when requested back by counsel on a matter that has rebooked, it’s never a dull moment! There is very little you can anticipate in this career, and the more adept you are at going with the flow, the more you will enjoy it.

Sometimes there are unanticipated witnesses, out-of-town jobs or day-of bookings that can be the most memorable and interesting. On the face of it a discovery could look quite predictable, but upon arrival you find out it’s a complicated plane crash, and you learn things you didn’t know you didn’t know about air travel!

One of the occurrences where I was requested by counsel to cover a continuation happened to be a job at a maximum security prison. One day I was writing a regular in-office job, and the next I’m moving chairs around a room with a convicted murderer setting up for a discovery. Thankfully, he was quite pleasant, and rest assured, there were ample corrections officers keeping a watchful eye.

I also had the privilege of covering some days on Vancouver’s first fully electronic trial, which was quite surreal and incredibly interesting.

Once you become confident with your writing and your equipment and have that to rely upon, it becomes easier and easier to just say yes and jump at the opportunities as they arise.

You truly never know what you’re walking into every day, and for me that’s always been a part of the charming and dynamic nature that I love.

Bridging the Gap – Court Bridge Solution

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

Corporate Boardroom Bookings — Now Available at Reportex!

Introducing our new way to save your sanity — meeting and work space for your new normal.

Many of us may have adjusted to working from home, virtual meetings and downsized office space over these past many months, but this doesn’t always work for every situation, and that’s where we come in!

Introducing our new corporate room rental opportunities to help with your professional workplace essentials.   Whether you need a stylish space for an in-person meeting or event, a tech-forward setup to host virtual calls or just a quiet place to work, we can help. 

Our Vancouver offices have over 20,000 square feet of beautiful meeting space and the flexibility to safely accommodate both individuals and groups of up to 30. Our boardrooms are designed to create effective in-person, virtual and hybrid connections, with staff and technical support available — whatever you require.

Supporting our industry as things continue to evolve and change is paramount, and this is one way we can offer some new options to our clients and friends. We’ve been saying it all along — we are in this together.

Visit our new information page to learn more about our professional amenities, custom-designed for your comfort and convenience, or contact our operations manager, Casey Dickinson, to explore your options. Hope to see you soon!

Welcome to E-Trials

The call to modernize the court system to ensure fair and speedier resolutions predated COVID, though the pandemic certainly accelerated the entrance of technology into the courtroom. Many trials across Canada and the US have already been moving towards a paperless or near-paperless and virtual manner.

We were ready. We have always known that adaptation of new and innovative technology would be at the core of ensuring access to justice for all Canadians. Investing in growing our technical knowledge and support in the legal service industry has always been at the heart of the development of Reportex and is one of the reasons why we joined with Veritext as they too have long understood the need to stay ahead of the changing needs in the legal system here in Canada and the US.


“Access to justice is a foundation of our society, and we simply had to learn, adapt and evolve.  And now there’s no going back. For us at Reportex, we felt a profound sense of obligation to provide guidance, support and solutions to the legal community. Court reporting is arguably a tech industry; law is not. We see it as our role in the litigation arena to bridge tradition with technology, to reinvent not just the way we deliver our services but to go a step further and actually innovate workflow options for our clients, to shape the future of litigation in Canada.  Lawyers are required to keep one foot in the past, but court reporters are not, and Reportex has been actively doing the research, making the tech investments and implementing e-solutions in discoveries, arbitrations and trials for years now.”

— Christy Pratt, RCR, RPR, CLR


The future is now: E-Trials

We have been here since the beginning. Our technicians and our complex litigation manager work with our e-solutions services to create the e-trial that fits you and your clients’ needs.

From providing independent courtroom technicians to document management and maintaining digital security, we already had the infrastructure in place. There are many things to consider when you begin to build your own e-trial:

  • Do you need one of our full-time in-court technicians?
  • Do your clients require all data to be stored in Canada?
  • Is the judge comfortable with technology?
  • Will you be marking up lots of maps or other documents?

To get you started on the road to your first e-trial, why don’t you take our fun e-trial quiz! 

Visit our new e-trials page and book a free consultation to start you on your journey today.