While the court-reporting industry trends started to settle into the world of remote depositions, the past three months have proven to be a snap back to reality. With a drastic comeback of in-person depositions. As the CDC has recently updated its recommendations regarding mask-wearing, we attempt to predict what the coming months will bring.

By analyzing Fortz Legal’s court reporting data, we can begin to predict future industry trends. The graph below depicts the number of remote depositions (blue.) Compared to the number of in-person depositions (yellow) for each month since January 2020.

The red dotted line represents the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Which prompted a sudden switch from in-person jobs to remote ones. For one full year (from May 2020 to May 2021), the court reporting industry operated about 90% remotely. When we look at July 2021, 43% of depositions were done in person – marking the highest percentage since before the spread of the virus.

The question now is, what will happen in the months to come? Perhaps the trend from the past three months will continue with an increased number of in-person jobs. Alternatively, the new CDC recommendations may begin to reverse the current trend, keeping remote depositions here to stay.

The consulting group forecasts that about 50 percent of depositions will continue to occur remotely even once all pandemic-related restrictions are lifted.

Regardless of what trend we see next, whether remote or in-person, Fortz Legal stays committed to providing clients with the best-in-the-industry service for every case.

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