Our Story

If it matters to you, it matters to us.

Cite was founded on one simple truth: Whether you're an attorney, paralegal, legal assistant or court reporter, you expect personal, reliable support from your Court Reporting Service — no matter how tough the challenge, or the deadline.

 

It’s our goal to offer busy litigators and support staffers unmatched professionalism in court reporting, videography, videoconferencing, interpretation and trial support services — anywhere in the world.

 

At the same time, we’re equally committed to maintaining a family-friendly work environment, where the best court reporting professionals have the technical and personal support they need to succeed. Because if there’s one thing we’ve learned from our decades of combined experience, it’s this: A court reporting service is only as good as its court reporters — and the best court reporters deserve nothing less than the best from us.

 

We live for the challenge this business brings us every day, we love making the impossible happen, and we’ve invested ourselves in creating a win-win organization — both for our clients and our employees. So how can we make your job easier, your time more productive, and your efforts more successful? We want to know. Because at Cite, if it matters to you, it matters to us.

Our Team

Joe Schell, Founder, Cite
Joe Schell

Founder

Joe graduated from Hart County High School in North Georgia and was not accepted to the University of Georgia.  He took his talents to Carrollton where he attended the University of West Georgia for one quarter before being placed on academic probation.  After his second quarter, the school politely asked him to leave.

 

Joe then became a full-time missionary with the Appalachian Service Project, with whom he coordinated volunteers for housing construction and presented project options to a board for approval.  For a year, Joe coordinated weekly volunteers helping hundreds of families improve their housing situation.

 

From 2001 to 2009, Joe lived in Alabama and perfected his sales skills while becoming obsessed with finance.  He then accepted a job with Forge Consulting as a settlement planner.  While at Forge, Joe helped protect and preserve Government benefits on large personal injury and wrongful death cases and provided financial advice to clients that needed help ensuring their settlements lasted.  He also completed executive courses at University of Notre Dame and University of Texas A&M and earned professional credentials in Settlement Planning and Structured Annuities while becoming a licensed insurance agent in all 50 states.

 

In addition to his love for service and helping his clients achieve their goals, Joe has always been fascinated with technology.  While working in the legal vertical, Joe felt that many of the court reporting and trial support companies were not evolving with the times.  Based on this observation, he spent 18 months learning absolutely everything about the industry and eventually opened Cite with his dear friend, Jeff Snider, in 2017.

 

Joe Schell fishingLess than three years after Cite’s founding, the nation shut down due to COVID-19, and Joe’s technology knowledge set Cite up for success as he began to teach attorneys the best way to handle exhibits in virtual depositions. Within two months of the nation shutting down, Joe was doing webinars for groups of fifty plus attorneys at a time while providing accredited continuing education credits with the Alabama State Bar.  Since April of 2020, Joe has spoken about and presented on utilizing technology in depositions, "Cloud storage and exhibits", and "Technology in Trials”.  Cite also has a viral YouTube video of him bringing himself coffee.

 

Joe has become a serial entrepreneur with ownership in three different companies, but his biggest passion is the charity he helped create – Here 2 Give. The charity feeds people in the Montgomery area who are not able to feed themselves and/or their families.

 

 

Joe Schell, Founder, Cite
Joe Schell

Founder

Joe graduated from Hart County High School in North Georgia and was not accepted to the University of Georgia.  He took his talents to Carrollton where he attended the University of West Georgia for one quarter before being placed on academic probation.  After his second quarter, the school politely asked him to leave.

 

Joe then became a full-time missionary with the Appalachian Service Project, with whom he coordinated volunteers for housing construction and presented project options to a board for approval.  For a year, Joe coordinated weekly volunteers helping hundreds of families improve their housing situation.

 

From 2001 to 2009, Joe lived in Alabama and perfected his sales skills while becoming obsessed with finance.  He then accepted a job with Forge Consulting as a settlement planner.  While at Forge, Joe helped protect and preserve Government benefits on large personal injury and wrongful death cases and provided financial advice to clients that needed help ensuring their settlements lasted.  He also completed executive courses at University of Notre Dame and University of Texas A&M and earned professional credentials in Settlement Planning and Structured Annuities while becoming a licensed insurance agent in all 50 states.

 

In addition to his love for service and helping his clients achieve their goals, Joe has always been fascinated with technology.  While working in the legal vertical, Joe felt that many of the court reporting and trial support companies were not evolving with the times.  Based on this observation, he spent 18 months learning absolutely everything about the industry and eventually opened Cite with his dear friend, Jeff Snider, in 2017.

 

Joe Schell fishingLess than three years after Cite’s founding, the nation shut down due to COVID-19, and Joe’s technology knowledge set Cite up for success as he began to teach attorneys the best way to handle exhibits in virtual depositions. Within two months of the nation shutting down, Joe was doing webinars for groups of fifty plus attorneys at a time while providing accredited continuing education credits with the Alabama State Bar.  Since April of 2020, Joe has spoken about and presented on utilizing technology in depositions, "Cloud storage and exhibits", and "Technology in Trials”.  Cite also has a viral YouTube video of him bringing himself coffee.

 

Joe has become a serial entrepreneur with ownership in three different companies, but his biggest passion is the charity he helped create – Here 2 Give. The charity feeds people in the Montgomery area who are not able to feed themselves and/or their families.

 

 

Jen Stewart

Director of Operations

When Cite merged with Haislip Ragan in 2018, the owners of Cite quickly realized Jen was going to be running the day to day operations of the office. Jen’s attention to detail fosters a high-quality product and driven work environment. She earned her BS in Business Administration from South University in 2006.  She is the co-founder of a podcast encouraging women to stay true to themselves.

 

When she is not working, she loves to go on adventures through the woods with her husband and 4 children.  She can also be caught decorating and refinishing furniture for fun.

Jen Stewart, Director of Operations, Cite, LLC
Anna Tolleson, CCR, CRR, Resource Development Liaison
Anna Tolleson, CCR, CRR
Resource Development Liaison
Anna joined Cite in August 2017 as our first court reporter.  She has covered more jobs than any other reporter at Cite.  She attended Gadsden State Community College where she obtained her Associates Degree in Real-Time Reporting in 2005.  She has a passion for mentoring and encouraging court reporting students and new court reporters as they begin their career.  Anna is asked on a regular basis to come speak to the students at her alma mater while also serving as a mentor each year.  Anna continues to grow as a reporter and a leader inside the profession.
he currently resides in Chelsea, Alabama with her two children, Parker and Eden Grace. In her spare time, Anna enjoys spending time with family and friends, going to the beach, shopping, and watching a good Netflix series.
Traci Schell

Operations

Traci is a native of Ozark, Alabama and graduated from Carroll High School before attending Troy University.  She graduated in 2000 with a BS in Business Administration.  Since then, Traci has been able to focus on volunteering with several organizations and currently serves as an officer on the PTA for Bear Exploration Center Elementary School.  Traci started with Cite in a temporary role, but it quickly became full time.  Traci can be found in production, billing, scheduling, accounts receivables, video syncing, and just about any and all aspects of Cite.

 

She loves going to Orangetheory, traveling, and watching all different types of movies from sad dramas to crazy suspense films.

Tracey Schell, Operations
Taylor Holland, Video Producer
Taylor Holland

Video Producer

Taylor has an extensive background in all aspects of video production which made him a great candidate to lead Cite’s growing video department. He grew up in Cullman, Alabama, but always had a dream of moving to the West Coast. After graduating from the University of Alabama in 2011, Taylor moved to Los Angeles to start his career in TV & Film production.  He spent five years in L.A. honing his craft as a Director of Photography and Editor working on a variety of projects from commercial marketing videos to feature films.  Taylor won a Webby Award in 2017 for his work as a video editor on a web-based video project titled “The People Walker.”

 

Taylor moved to Birmingham in 2018 to be closer to his Grandparents and other family still residing in the Cullman area. He continued his work as a Director of Photography and Editor filming projects for companies like ESPN, NBC, FOX, and more until joining Cite in 2021.
Taylor enjoys using his creative video skills to film and edit Day-in-the-Life videos for clients at Cite.  He believes it's his way of helping others when they're faced with life altering circumstances.

Carter Vance

Client Services

Raised by a family of lawyers, Carter spent much of his childhood around the legal profession. During these formative years, Carter witnessed the value of what attorneys can do to help their clients, and he fell in love with the profession. Today, this love has turned into a passion for providing lawyers with the highest levels of service and professionalism attainable, so they can care for their clients with as few obstacles as possible.

 

In addition to his work with Cite, Carter is an avid sports fan who can often be found practicing Michael
Jordan spin-moves while throwing away trash or getting his hopes up every time Tiger Woods makes a birdie. Carter is also an advocate for good music, and he attends Gateway Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL.

Carter Vance, Client Services, Cite