The landscape of litigation support across the country and right here in Northeast Ohio has been changing dramatically over the past few years, most notably with the acquisition of many established local firms by nationwide giants. While some paralegals and legal assistants may see a smooth transition from the local firms they were accustomed to after acquisition, many others are quick to realize they are missing some very important aspects of working with smaller, local firms that once simplified their workload daily.
Despite what some may like us to believe, not all litigation support firms operate the same. In fact, there can be many more differences than similarities in the overall experience from firm to firm, from initial contact to eventual product delivery. Establishing a relationship with a litigation support partner that can perform exceptional work completely tailored to you and your law firm’s needs and time constraints is a crucial part of managing the entire workload and workflow of busy professionals practicing within the realm of complex litigation.
HOW LOCAL LITIGATION SUPPORT CAN MAKE YOUR WORK LIFE EASIER
Cleveland, Ohio is a big law city with some of the country’s largest law firms practicing some of the country’s most complex litigation right here off the shores of Lake Erie. To manage the deadlines of discovery and coordinate depositions, subpoena service, videography and records retrieval necessary for your cases, working with litigation support professionals who truly understand these demands will not only make your work life easier but will also increase the probability of success in all your cases.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM TRULY EXCEPTIONAL LITIGATION SUPPORT
More than halfway into our tenth year of operation, we at Cleveland Reporting Partners have been able to track feedback from our clients through direct email and verified Google reviews to identify several aspects of our business model that really separate us from our competition.
UBER RESPONSIVENESS
Litigation is a very time-sensitive industry, and those of us who work in this field realize that means being immediately responsive to any request or query. Our scheduling and production departments are staffed 24 hours a day, including weekends, to handle any last-minute projects or newly imposed court deadlines. Litigation is stressful enough without having to put your casework on hold while you wait for a response from your litigation support provider.
EXPERIENCED AND TALENTED PROFESSIONALS
Knowing that the court reporters and videographers you hire for your depositions, arbitrations or hearings are at the top of their profession is one less thing to worry about throughout the discovery process in civil litigation. Stenographic court reporting is an art that is mastered over years of reporting in the field, covering a broad spectrum of talent levels.
CRP has an extremely rigorous vetting process to ensure every reporter on our team meets the highest levels of professionalism, timeliness, and talent necessary to handle any assignment and exceed all expectations of our clients. We truly believe we have put together the most talented team of court reporters in Northeast Ohio and can back up that claim with our work product and reputation in this industry.
TAILORED PRODUCTS
Exceptional litigation support should not offer only static products but should be able to tailor its products to very specific demands of any litigator. Any litigation support firm you are working with in 2025 should offer exhibit-linked transcript as standard, but also a regular full size, condensed, txt, and ptx as standard with any transcript order. But beyond the standards, you should be able to receive just about any transcript format you can think of, and CRP will make it happen. Don’t be afraid to order off the menu, so to speak, with your litigation support provider!
Also, when ordering a video deposition, the firm you work with should offer a standard mp4, a synced mp4, or either standard or synced deposition on a DepoView CD-ROM. Again, let your litigation support provider know exactly what you need, and they should be able to make that happen with no hassle!
TIMELINESS OF PROFESSIONALS AND PRODUCTS
Scheduling a deposition requires all parties to be available on a specific date, and that alone can be quite difficult. If the court reporter is late or a no-show altogether, all that scheduling coordination was a complete waste of everybody’s time.
Furthermore, ordering that deposition transcript and waiting two weeks or more for delivery is not only an outdated practice, but contributes to the complexity of effectively managing your discovery deadlines. CRP has always had an industry-leading standard delivery turnaround of seven calendar days for all court reporting and videography products we offer. If you seem to always be waiting around for the transcripts and videos in your cases, it may be time to find a more expeditious and efficient litigation support provider.
MODERN PLATFORMS AND COMMUNICATION
Ease of scheduling and product delivery can severely impact your time and resources. Spending too much time with complicated scheduling forms or outdated transcript delivery platforms should never be an issue when working with modern litigation support providers. Again, not all court reporting firms operate their businesses in the same manner or on the same platform, so working with one that uses state-of-the art electronic platforms is a must to streamlining your entire caseload.
IS IT TIME FOR A SWITCH?
With the current trend in our industry of national giants acquiring local litigation support firms, it may seem like there is no longer a variety in the services you require to meet the demands of your firm’s complex litigation. This is simply not the case. There are still smaller, local firms out there who would be happy to show you a new level of expertise and professionalism in the field of litigation support and give you the local attentiveness and responsiveness all your cases deserve.
The first step is to recognize you aren’t happy with your current litigation support provider. Cleveland Reporting Partners will take it from there!
About the Author:
Todd L. Persson has been serving the Cleveland legal community as a court reporter since 2002 and is a Co-Founder of Cleveland-based litigation support firm Cleveland Reporting Partners, LLC. He has spoken on the future of court reporting and technology on the Stenographers World Radio national podcast, has had blogs featured nationally by the National Court Reporters Association and the American Translators Association, and has had articles published in the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Journal. To read Todd’s full bio, visit our Partners page. Connect with him on LinkedIn here.
CRP Blog Editors in Chief:
Grace Hilpert-Roach has been serving the Cleveland legal community as a court reporter since 1992 and is a Co-Founder of Cleveland Reporting Partners, LLC. To read Grace’s full bio, visit our Partners Page. Connect with her on LinkedIn here.
Christine Zarife Green has been serving the Cleveland legal community as a court reporter since 2008 and is a Co-Founder of Cleveland Reporting Partners, LLC. To read Christine’s full bio, visit our Partners Page. Connect with her on LinkedIn here.
