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Friday, March 14, 2008

Letter of the law: Kentuckiana Reporters’ Alice Ballard
built business keeping tabs on testimony 

Business First of Louisville – by Margaret Phillips Business First Correspondent

alice2“Court reporting runs in the blood of Alice Ballard’s family. Ballard started her Louisville-based court reporting agency, Kentuckiana Reporters LLC, in 1975 with her sister, Patricia Ragland. Today, Ballard’s daughter, Rebekah B. Soule, also is a court reporter and the agency’s vice president.”

“Soule’s grandfather also was a court reporter in the U.S. Navy. ”

“For Ballard, it was a simple decision to pursue the profession. Court reporting was what I wanted to do after high school, she said.I was determined to become a court reporter. I knew you could make money doing this.”

“According to Ballard, the most important facets to building a career in court reporting are gaining the trust of attorneys, being punctual and dependable, and producing work properly. You can’t go around talking about cases with other people, Ballard said. You have to have the trust of the lawyers. Keeping things confidential is very important to maintain the trust of the attorneys that you work with.”

“You have to keep up with technology. They always think that technology is going to replace the court reporter. They thought videos would replace the court reporter, now they think voice-recognition someday will replace us. But it’s only allowed us to provide more to our clients.”

 

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* Photo by John Simpson