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Mission Statement
To restore the true meaning and essence of court reporting in Puerto Rico, which has deteriorated greatly throughout the years; to bring to the legal profession a higher standard of quality and accuracy in the written record; to be a vehicle through which attorneys can go with confidence into the courtrooms, knowing that their discovery is complete, correct, and timely; to introduce the legal profession of Puerto Rico to the state-of-the-art technology in court reporting that their counterparts in the United States have for so long enjoyed; and, most importantly, to collaborate with and support my fellow court reporters in re-establishing and perpetuating the integrity of our profession, so that we may render you, the attorneys, a high-quality service while promoting long-lasting working relationships.
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Our People
Barbara Dachman,
CSR / RPR / RMR / CRR
REALwriters’ proprietor was born and raised in Queens, New York; graduated from Stenotype Academy in New York City in the year 1976. Immediately thereafter, she became the main staff reporter for the freelance firm of Eugene Wallach & Associates in Manhattan, specializing in medical and technical cases, from nuclear waste spills to big-name pharmaceutical company patent infringement cases, as well as handling many civil rights litigation controversies. In her early career, she covered depositions, conferences and arbitration hearings in New York, Connecticut and Washington, DC.
After having been invited to work in Puerto Rico several times in the late '70s, in January of 1980 she decided to make San Juan her home, freelancing for law firms and working, on a contract basis, in the Federal Court in Old San Juan. She was a founding partner of Dachman, De Thomas & Nunez, Inc., Court Reporting and Interpreting, which flourished until 1987, when the corporation dissolved after her becoming a full-time, permanent Official Court Reporter in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, a position which she still proudly holds today after 25 years.
With a long and meaningful court reporting history behind her, she derives great satisfaction in sharing what she has learned throughout the years with her colleagues, oftentimes giving informal classes and orientation on how to perfect realtime writing skills, and on the use of the forever-evolving technology, in order to better serve the legal community.
CERTIFICATIONS
- Certified Shorthand Reporter
- Registered Professional Reporter (Certificate of Proficiency)
- Registered Merit Reporter
- Certified Realtime Reporter
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
- National Court Reporters Association
- United States Court Reporters Association (USCRA)
- USCRA District Representative for the District of Puerto Rico
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Conventions and seminars in the United States, sponsored by the
above-mentioned Associations, most recently:
- Anita Paul Realtime Seminars (2000)
- Reporting Technology Seminar - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow - Brian Clune, Bill Greenley, Merilyn Sanchez (2002)
- Improve Your Quality of Life with Realtime -Marybeth Everhart (2002)
- Interactive Realtime Seminar - Marybeth Everhart (2002)
- Julie Samford Davis Seminar on Realtime and Total Eclipse Software applications (2003)
- RealLegal Binder, E-Transcript and Exemplaris seminars - Rebecca Askew (2003, 2004)
- Working with LiveNote seminars (2003)
Educational Internet and/or telephonic seminars on court reporting-related subjects, most recently:
- Mark Kislingbury’s Teletraining seminars on realtime writing and speed building, And the Slowest Fingers Win (2004)
- Judy Ging’s Teletraining Seminar Realtiming in the Judicial Setting (2004)
Court Reporting in Spanish - "Taquigrafos de Record"
REALwriters of Puerto Rico now offers court reporting services for your legal hearings and/or depositions in Spanish. The personnel in our Spanish Division are carefully screened and trained for excellence in grammar, punctuation, and rapid transcript production. Under the guidance of Nylka Rivera, our Spanish Division Director, the quality and timeliness of your transcripts are assured. We are able to produce your Spanish transcripts in final form from within one to 20 days. You decide when you want it.
Realtime Court Reporting in Spanish -
"Estenotipia en Realtime"
REALwriters Chile, our South American branch office, has launched its operations in Santiago for the purpose of providing realtime Captioning and CART services in the Spanish language for the benefit of the hearing impaired and/or disabled, either in Chile or around the world, remotely. This is accomplished through the excellent realtime steno writing skills of Isabel Baeza, whose prior working experience includes captioning in Chile for the Fox Channel, Fox Sports (live sports events and news), Telemundo, KWHY CA, and various TV programs. Isabel has also previously worked providing realtime writing for several Chilean congresses, meetings and seminars. Our REALwriters Chile office is managed by Mario Carcamo Wilkinson.
Videography - Benjamin Lopez
Benjamin Lopez directs our Videography Department.
Benjamin is a professional digital videographer, cameraman, and video editor. We are proud to offer his services for all of your videography needs, from legal videography to aerial photography.
After earning a Bachelor's degree in communications from the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, he went on to specialize in video production and digital editing. His experience spans the course of ten years, and his professional portfolio includes work documenting evidence in the Enron case (Rio Piedras gas explosion), where he filmed all the ground-level extraction and soil testing for Geotechnical Services, Inc. Likewise, he has worked in several building implosions, such as "La Piscina del Escambron" and "Villa Panamericana." He also specializes in Aerial Architectural Photography.
As a legal videographer, he delivers an exceptional work product in any video format you choose. His expertise and professional videography equipment are unparalleled in the legal forum in Puerto Rico. You are guaranteed top quality sound and audio when it has to be nothing less than perfect.
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TESTIMONIALS
- "Dear Chief Judge Pesquera: On my recent work assignment in Puerto Rico, I was very pleased with the work of Barbara Dachman. I think you have added a first-class professional court reporter to your staff, and I want to commend her. Her work was fast, accurate, and reliable. She helped make my assignment and trial work easier."
- Letter from the late Hon. James L. Watson, to then-Chief Judge Hernan G. Pesquera
- "Dear Ms. Dachman: I have received from Judge Watson a letter commending the fine assistance you gave him during his recent tour of duty in our Court. On behalf of the Court and on my own behalf, I want to congratulate you for your meritorious and dedicated service which reflects so favorably and sets an example in our Court."
- Letter from the late then-Chief Judge Hernan G. Pesquera, to Barbara Dachman
- "After the first trial I had with Barbara as the reporter, I remember reviewing the transcript and saying to myself, 'This is the first time that I have a trial where everything I said at trial was completely and accurately recorded in the transcript.' "
- Attorney Francisco Rebollo
- "I have nothing but respect and admiration for Barbara's personal and professional qualities. I had an opportunity to engage Barbara's services in the context of a high-profile federal jury trial. It would be an understatement to say that the daily transcripts that she provided to us were invaluable to our trial preparation. The quality of her reporting was superb, and, just as importantly, the timeliness with which she delivered her product was impressive. Simply put, we could not have done our work without her assistance.
I wish Barbara and Real Writers PR nothing but success. We sorely need quality people like her at the helm of a business that performs such an invaluable service to our legal profession."
- Andres W. Lopez, Esq.
- Nice work, Barbara. If and when we have more to do down there, we'll undoubtedly use you. I wish so badly that we had used your service for our depositions as our opponents did. I can't even get a rough draft from the other court reporting firm for the depositions that are over a week old. Next time, we'll know. Thanks for the quick service and fast response.
- Darren E. Long
Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky, LLP
- Barbara, in case no one has told you yet, [the reporter you sent] is an excellent reporter in a case which had a great deal of difficult, technical terms.
- Robert C. Gilbert, Esq.
- I was so happy to see REALwriters PR enter the scene. Our bar has been sorely in need of real-time court reporting. Now, not only do we have it, but we have it with a great group of people under Barbara Dachman’s leadership. Their service is excellent, and always highly professional. I recommend their services whole-heartedly to anyone who truly values quality court reporting during discovery.
- David C. Indiano
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