The History of CRUW
Two-score and seven (give or take) years ago, our predecessors brought forth an association for freelance court reporters, and they named it “Shorthand Reporters of Washington, an Association.”
Roughly 20 years later, the name was changed to “Freelance Shorthand Reporters Association.”
A few years ago, FSRA members voted to change our name to WFSRA, and we officially became a nonprofit corporation in the state of Washington. With the advent of the relatively new CEU law, we discovered a new purpose for our existence. Recently, in 2018, we changed our name once again becoming Court Reporters United Washington (or CRUW for short.)
Since our inception, based on the original documents contained in our archives, court reporters have dealt with the same or similar issues we are dealing with now: ER in the courtroom, page density, contracting, quality control, just to name a few.
One of SRWA/WFSRA's main objectives was to obtain advertising for its members in the King County Lawyers' Directory. Although, it was in the era of martini lunches and smoke-filled bars, surely I jest when I refer to it merely as a "drinking club," since a careful review of the records indicates that the members even back then were proactive and concerned about the integrity of their profession.
In the beginning, SRWA had been a relatively small association; however, in the early days under SRW, we had members from as far away as Spokane. Most of our original members are retired or have gone onto the big courtroom in the sky, but included a number of very outspoken reporters some of which you may still be familiar with: Rick Rogers, Karen Larsen, Sharon Smith, Diane Attleson, Bob Webber, Eileen Polhamus, Mary Tevis, Elmer Groshong, and Orin Gray.
Today, CRUW stands here before you, reaffirming our allegiance to our fellow Washington Certified Court Reporters of Washington by our Mission Statement, which is: To facilitate the advancement of our profession by providing opportunities for networking, promotion, and continuing education. It is important to note that all Washington Certified Court Reporters are welcomed to join as members and have access to our cutting edge seminars, the kind of which you will not find elsewhere.
Welcome to our site! We look forward to seeing more of you in the future. Oh, yes, and be sure to check out our member chat page. It may remind some of you of what was once a very revered site known as DEPOMAN. It’s all yours to use as members. The governing caveat is: All topics stay relevant to our profession, all posts be courteous, otherwise you will be removed immediately if not sooner!
Sincerely,
Zoya Spencer
CRUW Secretary/Treasurer