ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Court clerk

Okay kiddo, do you know what a judge does in a courtroom? Well, the judge is the person who makes decisions in the courtroom, but they also have someone helping them called a court clerk.

The court clerk is like a helper for the judge. They sit in the courtroom and write down everything that is said during the trial. They write down what the judge says, what the lawyers say, and even what the witnesses say when they're giving their testimony.

The court clerk is also in charge of making sure all the important documents are filed correctly. If a lawyer hands in a paper called a "motion," the court clerk makes sure that it gets filed so that everyone knows what they're talking about.

The court clerk is like the judge's eyes and ears. They keep track of everything that happens in the courtroom, so that later on, if someone needs to know what happened, they can look back at the notes that the court clerk took.

So, that's basically what a court clerk does. They sit in the courtroom and take notes, and make sure all the important papers get filed correctly.