Coverage is a calendar problem before it is a quality problem
Training programs keep reporting more applicants than seats, and new schools advertise specifically around the reporter shortage. Whatever the long-run supply picture, the market counsel faces right now is tight: experienced reporters with realtime skills and technical vocabularies book out, and multi-day expert depositions consume whole weeks of one reporter's calendar. The agencies that cover reliably are the ones that confirm a named reporter early — and say no early when they cannot.
What short notice really costs
A date placed with several days' lead gets a matched reporter, a prepared glossary, coordinated videography, and a tested remote setup. A date placed the afternoon before gets whoever is free. Both can work; only one lets anyone prepare. If an agency always says yes to tomorrow, ask who exactly is covering and under what credential — the answer matters more the shorter the fuse.
The dates that need the most runway
Multi-day expert depositions, realtime at counsel table, secured-review-room source code days, and anything requiring interpreters. Each one multiplies the scheduling surface: the reporter, the scopist bench behind them, the room, the videographer. Three weeks is comfortable; three days is a favor the calendar may not grant.
How to book so the date holds
Send the caption, the date, the venue or platform, the witness, and the matter type in the first message — plus the protective order if one governs. Ask for the reporter's name and certification up front, and get cancellation terms in writing with the quote. Our scheduling guide covers notice periods and objection windows state by state; the quote form asks for everything needed to answer availability in one round.