Court reporters —

Many people ask; “Do I need a court reporter at my hearing?”
The answer is a definite, yes!

A court reporter provides a legal transcript of all of the following:
• All statements (testimony) made in the hearing,
• All admitted or denied evidence, and
• All objections overruled or sustained.

Basically, just about everything that is talked about at the hearing.
Without a court reporter's transcript an appeal will be fatal. See:
Foust v. San Jose Constr. Co., 198 Cal. App. 4th 181, 185-86 (2011). https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1577123.html The Appellate court stated: The fatal problem with this appeal is that Foust fails to provide us with a reporter's transcript from his court trial or any other adequate statement of the evidence. In numerous situations, appellate courts have refused to reach the merits of an appellant's claims because no reporter's transcript of a pertinent proceeding or a suitable substitute was provided. (Maria P. v. Riles (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1281, 1295–1296 [attorney fee motion hearing]; https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/maria-p-v-riles-28499 Ballard v. Uribe (1986) 41 Cal.3d 564, 574–575 (lead opn. of Grodin, J.) https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/ballard-v-uribe-28400 

It is presumed that the judgment or order made by the court is correct. You will need a reporter's transcript to show that the court was in error.
A court reporter is a key element in your case and should not be overlooked.
Without a court reporter in the hearing, the court is considered silent.
Meaning, that if you lose your case and want to appeal it, your chances of winning your appeal are zero to none.

The courts are very aware of this and this is why a lot of the times you will hear the Judge say: "IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY RULING YOU CAN APPEAL IT"!.
The courts have taken the court reporters out of the Unlawful Detainer Court Rooms due to budget cuts, so they say. We believe otherwise!

If you qualified for a fee waiver, then you have the right to have the state provide a court reporter for you at no cost.  In the event that you failed to make arrangements for a court reporter, you can ask the court for a continuance until you arrange for one.Remember that it is your responsibility to make sure that a court reporter is available for your hearing. So, plan ahead. If you paid your fees for your hearing then you are solely liable to get your own reporter at your own cost. Win or lose in your hearing, without a court reporter you will certainly lose in the appeal. In short you need a reporter’s transcript on appeal.

Again, win or lose the battle in the trial court, without a record on appeal, you risk losing the war. Thus, the burden to set the record straight falls on you. So, our answer to; "do I need a court reporter at my hearing"? is a definite, yes! Yes, 
court reporters are expensive, but if you have filed a fee waiver then the court must provide a court reporter to you at no cost.

Download a copy of Supreme Court of California, California. BARRY S. JAMESON, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. TADDESE DESTA, Defendant here. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-supreme-court/1898835.html

We at David vs Goliath can assist you with finding a court reporter in your area and in obtaining transcripts as well as reading the transcripts with you and finding the court’s errors.

The court reporter, also known as a stenographer transcribes the spoken word at 225 words per minute using a stenotype machine. Stenographers provide verbatim transcripts and real-time captioning in the courtroom. Electronics cannot ensure or even testify to the accuracy of the words or punctuation they are capturing; which makes having a court reporter indispensable.