At BlueLedge, our instructors are the heart of what we do. With more than 106 years of combined industry experience, they bring real-world insight, strong industry connections, and a passion for teaching. Through 46 courses and live webinars, they empower students at every stage of their journey to reach their goals in the legal field. This series introduces you to the experts guiding your path to success.
Meet Merritt | Meet Tamara | Meet Kristin | Meet Sharon | Meet Natalie
Natalie Hartsfield, Instructor
Natalie has over 20 years of experience in the court reporting industry, having worked as a stenographic court reporter, digital court reporter, legal transcriptionist, and instructor at both the Stenotype Institute and BlueLedge. She earned her CET certification in 2013 and also gained valuable insight into the industry and litigation support while working at a top court reporting agency. Among the many roles she has held, teaching has remained her greatest passion.
How would you describe your teaching philosophy in one sentence?
My teaching philosophy is grounded in clear communication and in patience, always understanding that people learn at different rates and that it’s sometimes important to find new ways of explaining topics to students.
TESTIMONIAL
I am extremely thankful that I chose BlueLedge for my career change from medical to legal transcription. It has been an amazing, smooth, and enjoyable journey taking this online course. I appreciate my instructor for all the timely responses to my questions and her expertise, which has prepared me for success. Thanks!
– Leslie O.
What’s a common misconception people have about this industry that you love to correct?
A common misconception that people have about the court reporting industry as a whole is that it’s on the verge of becoming obsolete. I’ve heard this myth since I first started court reporting school well over two decades ago. What I’ve found is that the majority of people who believe this have no idea what court reporting really is or what it demands. There are infinite nuances pertaining to voices, accents, interruptions, talking speed, complexity of material, room acoustics, etc. Human beings are extremely complex, and AI just isn’t at the level where it can fully take over for us in this industry. Our methodologies do change and improve over time, and advanced technologies like AI are very helpful tools for a court reporter or legal transcriptionist to use; but we still need a person to do the actual job if the end result is to be a complete and certified legal transcript. We must remember that legal transcripts are not like magazine articles. A legal transcript must be precise, as it could have a tremendous impact on important outcomes for society, such as whether a person receives custody of a child or whether a person charged with a serious crime lives or dies.
What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever received from a student?
The best personal feedback I’ve ever heard from a student is how they felt that I was the best and most thorough instructor they’ve ever had, including their professors when they were obtaining their master’s degree. They spoke of how they were very grateful to have me as an instructor and how they never felt that they couldn’t come to me with a question. It was lovely to hear!
How have you seen students benefit from the training we offer?
I’ve observed numerous benefits that students gain from our training, including a significant improvement in their understanding of proper punctuation and legal formatting guidelines. They also learn a lot of legal and medical terminology to help in transcript production. I’ve also heard from many students that our course is the reason they achieved AAERT certification!
TESTIMONIAL
I want to thank my BlueLedge instructors, Natalie and Kristin! I am just wrapping up the Digital Court Reporting and Legal Transcription combo program. My instructors have been so helpful when I have questions and provided detailed feedback on all assignments. Their attention and assistance exceeded my expectations, especially for an online course. Although this class took far longer than I planned and was far more work than I expected, I learned a TON and I feel confident that I am ready to take my certification exams. I definitely could not have done this without my instructors!
– Tara M.