Ireland; The Emerald Isle; Home of Saint Patrick, the island’s patron saint; beautiful scenery; Guinness Stout; rugby; horse racing; world-renowned literature; football; Celtic music; Irish stew; and more. It’s also the home of NCRA member Deirdre O’Malley, RMR, CRR, a freelance court reporter who, not only works in her home country, but also in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Romania, Luxembourg, and Germany. She is also a member of the British Institute of Verbatim Reporters (BIVR).
A 25-year veteran of the court reporting profession, O’Malley covers commercial court hearings, tribunals, arbitrations, government inquiries, U.S. depositions, and some corporate board meetings. She says that, having lived and worked as a freelance court reporter in New York City for nine years, she misses depositions and loves to travel for them whenever the opportunity arises. She also volunteers at her children’s school to caption their Open Night every year. What she loves best about her career, though, is the flexibility it provides and the variety of jobs it offers.
One of her most exciting jobs she shares was the opportunity to work at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, Germany, last year. “It was a fascinating experience with 34 countries and 9 groups appearing before 21 judges. Submissions were in English or French (with simultaneous interpretation), and the transcripts were required to be on their website by the end of lunch for the morning session and 6 p.m. for the afternoon session. There were three English-speaking court reporters and three French. I really enjoyed working closely with colleagues. As it ran for almost two weeks, there was lots of steno talk, and I even got to do some sightseeing,” O’Malley said.
After working as a legal secretary for several years, O’Malley said she got “itchy feet” that led to a backpacking trip around the world for almost two years. To support her adventure, she worked as a WordPress operator, and by the time her trip ended, she was typing at 110 words per minute on a QWERTY keyboard.
“When I returned to Ireland …
To view the full text of this article and to read more exciting stories about our members working abroad, NCRA members can use their membership credentials to log into the July issue of the online JCR Magazine. And you can always read back issues of the JCR Magazine online on our website.
