He began San Francisco State University wholeheartedly committed to studying music. At his parent’s request he looked into studying a more lucrative area — like business. It was the first of many changes before a neighbor introduced him to court reporting.

Once he found the right career the motivation just hit Brickman. Since private school allowed him to focus on the court reporting rather than general education, Brickman was able to finish in two years — graduating in 1978. While in school Brickman worked as a typist for a court reporting firm. It took him two tries to pass the court reporting exam, but once he did his hard work paid off as he was offered a job.

There are two types of court reporters — actual court reporters and freelance reporters. Court reporters sit in the courtroom transcribing what is being said. Freelance reporters complete depositions, transcribe conversations and complete any paperwork outside of the courtroom. Brickman is primarily a freelance reporter but he dabbles in courtrooms from time to time — only for topics that interest him.

He produces hundreds of pages in a day, and it’s not because of his typing skills. Brickman can type over 100 words per minute but court reporters use a different method of typing. The language is a special kind of shorthand, which sometimes consists of typing two letters simultaneously. To type the, for example, Brickman just presses “t,” and the word if is the letters t and p pressed at the same time. It’s a difficult language to master, said Brickman, but the work is worthwhile.

Brickman worked for a couple of firms before opening Brickman Deposition Reporting in 1986, the firm is currently in San Francisco but started in his bedroom in Foster City. It’s the kind of job, which can be as consuming or low maintenance as a worker could want. Reporters are paid between $4 to $10 per page. Brickman’s work has taken him to multiple states and as far as Tokyo. He’s listened in on the personal information of Debbi Fields, the woman behind Mrs. Fields, and self-help guru Deepak Chopra.

Brickman loves being in the know of personal and political situations going on around the nation. The career, he said, is great for anyone needing flexibility in a work schedule. It’s also something that requires lots of work, accuracy and studying to get right. Brickman had one professor who would read names and number out of the phone book for hours as they transcribed it – a task he hated at the time.

Despite his busy schedule, Brickman still makes time to have a life. He lives in San Mateo with his wife of four years, Cynthia, and her 18-year-old daughter Erika. Cynthia has four children, two girls and two boys. Brickman adopted Beverlee, the older daughter, just a few months before he married Cynthia.

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