The stenographer shortage crisis

Collin Ritsema, COO of Fortz Legal, has watched the court reporting industry grapple with a problem that has been building for years: There simply are not enough stenographers to meet demand.

"The big trend, as everyone is aware, is just the shortage of stenographers," Collin explains. "That has been going on for many years."

Fortz Legal is a full-service litigation support firm headquartered in Michigan that serves clients nationwide. The company specializes in court reporting, process service, trial support, and e-discovery for high-level business clients handling complex litigation cases.

When stenographers are unavailable, cases can stall, depositions get delayed, and trials proceed without the detailed transcription that lawyers need for daily rough drafts.

For a firm that prides itself on supporting sophisticated intellectual property and commercial litigation practices, these gaps threatened client service clients were accustomed to.

Early adoption of AI

Rather than wait for the industry to solve its labor shortage, Fortz started exploring alternatives back in 2018. The firm partnered with an AI transcription company to provide rough draft trial transcripts around the country.

Even with AI transcription in place, Collin knew the firm needed to keep innovating. Fortz Legal's clients are high-level litigators working on sophisticated cases. They expect more than just basic service.

"The clients we're working with, high-level litigators, expect high-level solutions and cutting-edge technology support," Collin says. "When we saw discussion about deposition summaries in our industry, we knew right away that we needed to jump on this."

Fortz Legal is part of a member-based network of court reporting agencies. Through this peer network, Collin was able to evaluate several deposition summary providers, compare their outputs, and gather feedback from peers.

The firm took one deposition and ran it through competing AI summary platforms to test consistency, accuracy, and turnaround time. "For us, it's really important to be able to churn those transcripts out," Collin explains.

CaseMark stood out as the clear leader in output quality.

“Based on the other feedback from the other court reporting agencies in the group and then also just our personal observations with the differences between the different companies,” explains Collin, “it was clear that Casemark was a leader with just the output of their summaries compared to the others.”

How CaseMark stood up among AI platforms for the legal industry

Four features convinced Fortz Legal that CaseMark was the right choice, according to Collin.

1. Choice: CaseMark offers two deposition summary formats: page-line and narrative. Different clients prefer different versions for different reasons. The page-line format provides an organized, methodical way to click through and reference the transcript. The narrative format gives a broader memorialization of the deposition.

"Just the fact that you guys have the two different outputs was a big selling point," Collin says.

2. Complete Package: Collin adds that it’s a “really nice piece” that CaseMark embeds the full transcript alongside the summary, making it easy for attorneys to verify details or dig deeper into specific testimony.

3. Customer Branding: Collin also says it’s a “big plus” how CaseMark “incorporates [Fortz Legal’s] branding” into the work product.

4. Speed: Collin needed a solution that could deliver summaries in real time, not hours or days later. With CaseMark, the team can click submit and download the completed summary immediately.

Collin explains:

“In fact, we took one deposition and we imported it into all these different deposition summary providers. And we wanted to see what, what was consistent with the deliverable, and what was different (i.e., if we could see anything that was inaccurate). And then also what that turnaround time was with completion. For us, it's really important to be able to churn those transcripts out. With Casemark, it was a very quick process to be able to click submit and then there you can download the deposition summary in real time. That was very important for us.”

From one summary to every case

The business impact became clear quickly. In September, a client requested a CaseMark-powered summary for one witness deposition. After reviewing it, the partner at the law firm sent an email requesting summaries for every remaining deposition in the case.

"Getting small little nuggets like that from a client goes a long way," Collin says. "There are eight people that got emailed that transcript. But you got the partner who is looking at that deposition summary and is identifying value."

Partners do not typically send emails directly to court reporting agencies. They have teams for that. When a partner takes the time to reach out personally, it signals something important.

That pattern has repeated. Clients see value in one summary and want them for their entire caseload. For Fortz Legal, this creates ongoing revenue, not just a one-time transaction.

"When a client can identify value with those summaries and request it for all their other jobs, we're going to not just get some revenue one time, but now ongoing for the entirety of our relationship with that client," Collin explains.

A new service offering

By adding deposition summaries to their portfolio, Fortz Legal has created a new revenue stream while maintaining their position as a technology leader in litigation support.

"With every new service that we can offer, there is going to be revenue tied to it," Collin says. "Having every little cutting-edge technology out there available in our toolbox to be able to offer and provide, that's going to provide more revenue."

The firm continues to evaluate new features and provide feedback to CaseMark as the platform evolves. For Collin, the partnership represents more than just a vendor relationship. It is part of Fortz Legal's broader strategy to stay ahead of industry trends and deliver solutions that match the sophistication of their clients' legal work.

In an industry facing labor shortages and increasing demands for faster turnaround times, Fortz Legal has found a way to not just maintain service levels but expand their capabilities. The stenographer shortage that threatened to constrain the business instead became an opportunity to innovate, adapt, and grow.

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