We are excited to announce goDEPO is now part of Veritext.
For over 38 years, goDEPO has provided Lousiana and beyond with exceptional service and quality in court reporting.
Shortly after receiving his bachelor’s degree in Pre-Law from the University of Louisiana in 1983, Phillip Kaufman, BA, CSR, CRI, bought the small Lafayette, Louisiana court reporting firm that he had been working at to learn deposition-taking skills for law school. At the time, he envisioned turning management of it over to his sister who had just started reporting school, while he pursued his law degree. However, his sister decided she preferred reporting over management. Phil changed his focus to growing Kaufman & Associates. He studied steno, voice and Gregg shorthand reporting methods and became a Louisiana CCR in Louisiana’s first statewide certification in 1987. He also obtained an American Guild of Legal Videographers certification.
Being a technology enthusiast and envisioning the impact the development of speech recognition would have on the industry, he worked closely with Dragon Systems and IBM in the early 90’s, ultimately founding AudioScribe in 1997. AudioScribe developed the first speech recognition voicewriting system for court reporting. This led to Phil traveling throughout the world presenting SpeechCAT to courts, reporting firms, national conferences, reporting schools, and all branches of the U.S. military. Phil focused on developing the first theory and methods for speech recognition real-time voicewriting and released the Voice-Ed textbooks and curriculum in 2001. He traveled across the U.S. to steno schools and colleges instructing their instructors. Next, he obtained the NCRA Certified Reporting Instructor certification and shortly thereafter the NCRA Certificate in Trial Presentation.
Phil has been a member of the NCRA, VRLA, LCRA, STAR and a Board Member of the Louisiana Board of Examiners of Certified Shorthand Reporters. During his tenure on the CSR Board, Phil introduced motions and participated in authoring bills that led to the creation of the Certified Digital Court Reporter (CDR) license. The CDR license provides options for Louisiana judges and courts (only) to fill countless official court reporting vacancies in mostly rural areas with qualified court reporters. Phil’s most recent contributions include serving on the Louisiana Board of Examiners of Certified Shorthand Reporters’ Advisory Committee on E-Signatures/E-Filing, which led to providing clients with a certified paperless transcript option. Ever-dedicated to Louisiana Court Reporters, in early 2024 Phil initiated the reorganization of the Verbatim Reporters of Louisiana professional association which was about to shutdown completely after COVID. A group of very enthusiastic younger reporters have now formed the new VRLA board and are actively involved in hosting seminars and influencing State legislation related to court reporting.
Under the Veritext umbrella, goDEPO clients will now be able to benefit from Veritext’s technologies (including paperless exhibit access and sharing, instant scheduling features, and unsurpassed expertise in remote proceedings), as well as unmatched-in-the-industry HIPAA and PII-compliant data security coverage.
Veritext’s vast coverage nationwide also means that clients have access to our brick-and-mortar locations throughout North America equipped with state-of-the-art deposition suites.
Our shared commitment to quality reporting and uncompromising service makes goDEPO a perfect fit with Veritext and we are thrilled to welcome the team to the Veritext family!
