# Andrew Mayes

> AI engineer and full-stack developer in St. Petersburg, Florida. Builds AI
> systems, ships production web apps, and leads technology and innovation at
> Executive Reporting Service, a court reporting firm founded in 1981.

Andrew Mayes works at the intersection of artificial intelligence and legal
technology. He builds multi-agent AI systems, ships free and commercial tools
for the court reporting world through his company DepoStack (DepoAudio,
CasePrompts), and modernizes legal infrastructure. This site is a static Astro
app with hand-drawn canvas pixel art; the source of truth for his work,
writing, and projects.

## Key facts

- Name: Andrew Mayes
- Title: Director of Technology, Executive Reporting Service (since October 2020)
- Founder: DepoStack — independent legal-technology software company
- Location: St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
- Focus: AI engineering, legal technology, court reporting modernization
- Products: DepoAudio (free, open source), CasePrompts (free, in preview)
- Method: the CITE method (Context, Instructions, Template, Evidence) — page:line-cited, vendor-neutral legal AI
- Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayesandrew/ · https://github.com/mayes

## Projects

- [Executive Reporting Service](https://executivereporting.com): The day job — leading technology across one of Florida's longest-running court reporting firms (est. 1981).
- [DepoStack](https://depostack.com): Andrew's independent legal-tech software company — vendor-neutral, on-device tools for the people who produce the record. The umbrella behind DepoAudio and CasePrompts. Early access open.
- [DepoAudio](https://www.andrewmayes.com/blog/depoaudio-court-audio): Free, open-source desktop app that converts proprietary court recording formats (SGMCA, FTR, BWF) to standard audio, entirely on-device. https://www.depoaudio.com
- [CasePrompts](https://www.caseprompts.com): Free, copy-ready AI prompts for litigation, built on the CITE method (Context, Instructions, Template, Evidence). Currently in preview.

## Writing (The Log)

- [How to Open SGMCA, FTR & BWF Court Recordings Without the Vendor's Software](https://www.andrewmayes.com/blog/open-court-recording-formats): A plain-English guide to the proprietary audio formats court recordings ship in — and how to convert them to standard audio on your own machine, for free.
- [What Happens When the Person Who Runs the Court Reporting Tech Also Builds the Tools](https://www.andrewmayes.com/blog/court-reporting-tech-from-the-inside): I run the technology at a 45-year-old court reporting firm and build the tools the field uses — on legal tech, AI for court reporters, and the gap in legacy court reporting software.
- [When the frontier gets recalled](https://www.andrewmayes.com/blog/frontier-recalled): The US government ordered Anthropic to suspend Fable 5 and Mythos 5 over a national-security concern. A few notes from someone who builds on these tools.
- [Stop prompting like you're Googling](https://www.andrewmayes.com/blog/caseprompts-cite-method): CasePrompts is in preview: free, copy-ready AI prompts for litigation, built on the CITE method — with citation discipline baked in.
- [Hello, world](https://www.andrewmayes.com/blog/hello-world): The Log opens — what this blog is, what to expect, and why it looks like a terminal.
- [DepoAudio: getting court audio out of jail](https://www.andrewmayes.com/blog/depoaudio-court-audio): Why I built a free, open-source desktop app that converts proprietary court recording formats — and why it never touches the cloud.

## Key pages

- [Home](https://www.andrewmayes.com/): Overview of Andrew's work, projects, and life.
- [The Log](https://www.andrewmayes.com/blog): Blog — notes on AI engineering, legal tech, and pixel art.
- [FAQ](https://www.andrewmayes.com/faq): Plain answers about Andrew and his products.
- [Résumé](https://www.andrewmayes.com/resume): Experience, projects, and skills.
- [Now](https://www.andrewmayes.com/now): What Andrew is focused on currently.
- [Photos](https://www.andrewmayes.com/photos): A photo log.

## FAQ

**Who is Andrew Mayes?**
Andrew Mayes is an AI engineer and full-stack developer based in St. Petersburg, Florida. He is Director of Technology at Executive Reporting Service, a court reporting firm founded in 1981, and the founder of DepoStack, an independent legal-technology software company. He builds AI systems and tools for the court reporting and legal industry.

**What is DepoStack?**
DepoStack (depostack.com) is Andrew Mayes's independent software company building vendor-neutral, on-device tools for the people who produce the legal record. It is the umbrella behind DepoAudio and CasePrompts, combining free, open-source tools with commercial products built to the same standard. Early access is open.

**What is DepoAudio?**
DepoAudio (depoaudio.com) is a free, open-source desktop app that converts proprietary court-recording audio formats — including SGMCA, FTR, and BWF — into standard formats like WAV, MP3, FLAC, and Opus. It runs entirely on your own machine with no cloud uploads and no subscriptions, on Windows 10+ and macOS 12+.

**What is CasePrompts?**
CasePrompts (caseprompts.com) is a free library of copy-ready AI prompts for litigation work, built on the CITE method. Every output cites the record by page:line, and if something is not in the record the AI says so instead of inferring. It is vendor-neutral, so the same prompt works across different AI models, and is currently in preview.

**What is the CITE method?**
CITE is the prompting framework behind CasePrompts. It stands for Context, Instructions, Template, and Evidence. It forces AI outputs to ground every claim in the record with page:line citations and to admit when a claim is not supported — built for reliability in litigation and portable across AI models.

**How can I open SGMCA, FTR, or BWF court recordings?**
Those are proprietary court-recording containers that normally require a specific vendor's software to open. DepoAudio converts them to standard, channel-separated audio (WAV, MP3, FLAC, Opus) on your own computer, for free and open source — no vendor software or cloud upload required.

**What does Andrew Mayes do at Executive Reporting Service?**
As Director of Technology since October 2020, Andrew Mayes leads technology, innovation, and digital delivery at Executive Reporting Service — one of Florida's longest-running court reporting firms (founded 1981). He owns transcript security, e-transcript and digital delivery, client-facing platforms, and statewide network infrastructure.

**How can I contact Andrew Mayes?**
Andrew Mayes is on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/mayesandrew and GitHub at github.com/mayes, and is based in St. Petersburg, Florida. His writing is at andrewmayes.com/blog.

## Contact

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayesandrew/
- GitHub: https://github.com/mayes
- Location: St. Petersburg, Florida, USA