Tucson court reporter receives national grant | News

A Tucson court reporter is a recipient of the $1,500 Court to CART Grant from the philanthropic arm of the National Court Reporters Foundation (NCRF). 

Erica McQuillen holds the nationally recognized professional certifications of Registered Diplomat Reporter (RDR) and Certified Realtime Reporter (CRR). She has been a court reporter for 22 years, 17 of which have been spent with the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. She is also a multi-qualifier on both the NCRA National Speed and Realtime contests. 

She said she plans to use the funds to broaden her skills in providing communication access, real-time translation (CART) for people with hearing loss or for nonnative English speakers. 

In her application essay, McQuillen said she wanted to use her stenographic reporting skills once she retires. 

She is interested because of her experiences with the school her children attend, which serves as an immersion program for students who are deaf and hard-of-hearing. 

“I have witnessed firsthand how meaningful these services are to the people relying upon them, and my career as an official real-time court reporter has likewise given me an appreciation for the high level of skilled need to provide these services,” McQuillen said. “This training will allow me the opportunity to transition into the CART field where I could hit the ground running upon retirement.”

“Erica wants CART training for all the right reasons,” the Hon. John C. Hinderaker, for whom she has worked since 2020, states in his letter of recommendation. 

“We need a CART-trained court reporter in the District of Arizona. Unfortunately, the district does not currently employ a single trained CART court reporter. Were Erica CART trained, she would fill an important and unmet need.”

The NCRA represents stenographic court reporters, captioners and legal videographers. The announcement was made at a special awards luncheon at the 2025 NCRA Conference & Expo held in late July in Minneapolis.  

The Court to CART Grant is offered through NCRF in memory of the late stepfather and lifelong role model of NCRA member Rich Germosen, FAPR, RDR, CRR, Eligio Antonio Rosario Sr.  

McQuillen will receive an assessment of her real-time skills and instruction about current CART technology. Hands-on training will be provided, along with the opportunity to learn from applicable existing NCRA videos.

To be eligible for the Court to CART Grant, applicants must be current members of NCRA in good standing, hold at least the Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) certification, and have a realtime certification such as the Certified Realtime Captioner (CRC) or Certified Realtime Reporter (CRR). Additionally, applicants must currently provide real-time services in judicial settings (either freelance or official) with an untranslated rate of at least 96% accuracy.