I recently attended a continuing education seminar session that was presented by Todd Mobley of Mike Mobley Reporting and Rosalie Kramm of Kramm Court Reporting. The topic was: The Importance of Telling Your Story Through Blogging. One of the topics raised was: I don’t know what you don’t know. For example, when you meet someone new, after you form a first impression of them, the way to really get to know them is to ask questions. But what about the questions that go unasked? Blogging is a good way to relay information to people that they may not already have or remind them about a specific aspect of your business.

We don’t know what information you already have about us, so we’ve taken the guesswork out of it and compiled a list of five things we think you may not know about Urlaub Bowen & Associates, Inc.

5 Things:

1. We now offer in-house videography services. Brett Schatzle recently obtained the designation of Certified Legal Video Specialist and is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to digitally record discovery and evidence depositions in high definition, sync the video and transcript for use in trial presentation, and deliver the video to you electronically, on CD, or as an upload directly to your case file in our 24/7 online repository.

2. Donna Urlaub, who since 1987 has competed in the Illinois speed contest, is the only person to hold the title of speed Champion and realtime Champion simultaneously not once, not twice, but THREE times. She is the current reigning champion of both contests put on by the Illinois Court Reporters Association. The realtime contest is comprised of two dictation parts: a 180 words-per-minute Literary and a 200 words-per-minute Testimony (two voice). It takes 95% accuracy to qualify in each contest. Donna’s 2017 Realtime scores were 99.22% and 99.5%, which averaged to 99.36%. The speed contest is made up of three dictation speeds: 220 words-per-minute Literary, 230 words-per-minute Legal Opinion, and 270 words-per-minute Testimony. Donna’s 2017 speed scores were 98.91%, 98.35% and 97.11%, bringing her average score to 98.12. She was awarded the Gary L. Sonntag Memorial Speed Contest trophy and the Sally Cochran Traveling Trophy.

3. Do you need to schedule a deposition outside of Chicago? We don’t strictly work in the Loop. Our in-house reporters can cover assignments anywhere throughout the Chicago Metropolitan Area and its collar counties, as well as DeKalb and Kankakee Counties. We also have affiliate offices in Lake and DuPage Counties. And if you have to schedule a deposition out of state, we can arrange that for you as well with one of the vetted firms that we use from our nationwide network.

4. We think it’s important to stand out and to better our business every day, which is why we have applied for and received the following certifications: WBE (Women’s Business Enterprise), DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise), SBE (Small Business Enterprise). We also are members of the National Court Reporters Association, the Illinois Court Reporters Association, and NCRA’s Ethics First Program. We strive to maintain excellence in all codes and standards of ethics with all of our clients.

5. In 2019 Donna will have her 50th anniversary as a court reporter. She began court reporting in 1969 and hasn’t regretted it since. She’s been a business owner since 1985. Donna has contributed to the court reporting profession by being a board member of several organizations and by being a mentor to students and most recently by offering daily writing tips to a Facebook group of Chicago court reporters. But Donna’s not the only diehard court reporter. Co-founder Nick Bowen attained his certification 44 years ago. All combined, UBA reporters’ experience adds up to over 300 years!

Think about us the next time you need to hire a court reporter… now that you know more about us.