A recent story from the Wall Street Journal will look familiar to anyone who has followed this issue closely: Court reporters aren’t losing their jobs to artificial intelligence. The profession is losing ground to a structural shortage of certified human professionals, and the consequences are falling on the people who need the legal system most.

Over the past decade, the estimated number of stenographers has fallen 21%, to fewer than 23,000 nationwide, according to a 2025 report by the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers. In California alone, the state’s own judicial branch reports that nearly half of active court reporter licenses were issued at least 30 years ago. Retirements are accelerating, and the pipeline of stenographic replacements has not kept pace in spite of repeated recruitment efforts.

The California Supreme Court is currently weighing whether to allow electronic recording in civil proceedings — not because the technology has been deemed superior, but because the shortage has left roughly 72% of affected civil cases without any verbatim record between April 2023 and June 2025. North Dakota this year phased out stenographers entirely, citing both the shortage and the cost disparity between stenographic and electronic transcripts. These are not isolated policy choices. They are the predictable result of a profession allowed to contract without adequate attention to the consequences.

The path forward

The path to a qualified court reporting workforce does not require everyone to complete the same multi-year training process to become a stenographer. Stenography, digital court reporting, and voice writing are all legitimate, certified pathways to making a reliable legal record. All three require a trained, accountable human being in the room to manage proceedings, ensure accuracy, and stand behind the record with their professional certification.

Updating state laws and court rules that unnecessarily restrict qualified professionals from working is among the most direct interventions available to policymakers. The shortage is structural. The solutions are achievable. What the legal system needs now is the political will to pursue them.

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