Best Practices for Legal Transcription: Tips for Accuracy and Efficiency

The process of producing or typing a legal document using audio and/or video recordings is known as legal transcription. It entails converting documents from audio or video files into textual form so that the information contained within may be easily accessible. You may submit court recordings, legal proceedings, video files, and audio snippets in return for written papers using transcription services.

In the legal field, legal transcription is becoming more prevalent. The impact and effectiveness of the service on the legal profession is acknowledged by the legal community. In order to hear pleadings, court proceedings, interrogations, and testimony, paralegals, researchers, and attorneys do not need to put in long workdays. By converting the recordings into written documents that are simpler to organize, read, and scan, legal transcriptionists perform the work for them.  

The process of Legal Transcription

You should be aware that legal transcription is a straightforward procedure before you outsource it.

The customer sends the audio file or video material to the agency

Most legal transcription companies will accept audio files and video material in a number of formats. Because of this, it is advisable to confirm with the agency that they can accept your material, which is in a certain format. The legal transcription business should also be aware of the time limits for submission you require.

The legal transcriptionist pays close attention to the audio file or video recordings and types it precisely as it is said, using the format that you choose. The transcriptionist will also consider the original sources.

The grammatical irregularities and subtleties of each speaker's speech patterns should be preserved whether the file is about a deposition or any court hearings. The transcriptionists will edit the final document's grammar, syntax, phrasing, and language in accordance with your directions if the original material is a letter or legal document.

Professionals Transcript Your Files

Your chosen expert will begin the transcription process of the document as soon as they have the legal recordings. Depending on your needs, the transcribing technique may change.

For instance, a legal transcriptionist would write down every word of your court proceedings exactly. In other words, s/he will convey the emotions and interruptions of the speakers. However, if the transcripts were needed for documentation, specialists would cut out the details and utilize different transcribing techniques.

Review of the Documents

The transcript is examined and reread by a separate person when the legal transcriptionist is done with it. By doing this, the transcription's correctness and grammatical integrity are guaranteed.

Submission of the Document

The agency transmits the paper to the customer once it has been reviewed and proofread. The agency has the option of sending a paper copy or a digital copy of the transcription. The service provider follows the client's request. To give the client access to multiple copies of the file in the event of file loss or damage, the agency stores the final transcription.

Best Practices to produce Accurate Transcription

Utilize modern technologies

Internet, cameras, lighting, and sound equipment are all necessary for conducting depositions. The deposition transcribing process can also be sped up by using AI-based automated speech-to-text recognition (ASR). The use of sophisticated software also enables access to, secure sharing of, and searching of digital transcripts by attorneys, as well as the provision of a detailed timeline of events as they occurred during the deposition.

It's crucial to have a knowledgeable legal transcription service to verify the machine-generated papers for accuracy. In a perfect world, the lawyer would be able to control the technology being utilized during the deposition. If not, they may hire a paralegal or legal assistant to help with technology, screen-share exhibits, annotate them, and introduce them in the proper sequence.

Pay close attention to the tools

Since the pandemic-driven social distance needs have become the norm, distant statements are now the norm. For many litigators, this presents a significant hurdle. The JD Supra study of national court reporters, who are in charge of accurately recording every uttered word, shed insight on the "behavior of litigators who were able to successfully conduct depositions during the past year." The legal professionals utilized tools that could guarantee high-quality audio files, according to the court reporters.

Accurate transcribing depends on the room's acoustics being optimized, in addition to maintaining flow and clarity. Lawyers must consider a variety of variables when setting up the microphones, including the number of speakers in the room as well as those participating through phone or the internet.

To improve audio recording, consider the following suggestions:

• Put microphones in all the right places.
• Use earbuds with a built-in microphone.
• Make sure the speaker's mouth is near the microphone.
• Reduce background noise and distractions.
• Boost loudness and employ an audio limiter.
• Employ a sound editor.

Identify with accuracy

Start your legal deposition by introducing yourself, the witness, the opposing attorney, and everyone else in attendance. It's important to maintain a thorough and accurate record if you intend to utilize your video deposition as evidence in court hearings. Additionally, you must always include the case name. Whenever you speak on the phone, please identify yourself for telephonic transcriptions. You'll steer clear of any uncertainty later in that manner. If you are referring to exhibits, provide the state, the date, the number, and any further distinguishing characteristics.

Give instruction on speaking to participants

Before speaking, each speaker should introduce himself and be cautioned from talking over one another. It may be challenging to distinguish who is speaking if there are numerous voices present. The most commonly stated component in producing an accurate deposition transcript is the appropriate management of crosstalk during the examination.

In the event of crosstalk, the lawyer should identify the speaker by name. The witness must also wait for counsel to finish a question before responding to it to keep a clear record in the transcript. This will guarantee an appropriate response to the question posed and provide the defense attorney the chance to raise objections to a question that is inappropriate.  

It is important to stress the value of clear communication to deponents before the deposition. This is crucial to prevent misunderstandings and erroneous interpretations, as well as to expedite the deposition procedure by cutting down on the time needed for clarification requests.

Spell out unfamiliar words

Even though court reporters and deposition transcription service providers are conversant with legal terminology it's crucial to define unknown terms to ensure accurate transcripts. In fact, this practice was included among the successful attorney behavior by the court reporters who took part in the JD Supra study. Lawyers must also be careful not to talk too quickly.

Give the required information in advance

Attorneys must give precise information about the case in advance, including the correct spelling of participants' names, place names, and technical words, to aid court reporters in accurately transcribing the testimony. The pre-marking and uploading of digital displays should be done whenever it is practical.

Access to any materials cited in the deposition should be granted to the court reporter as well. Upon completion of the deposition, one attorney can assist court reporters by reviewing the exhibits and any strange spelling. In the JD Supra poll, a respondent really used this as an example of successful attorney behavior.

What makes investing in legal transcription worthwhile?

In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in demand for quick and accurate legal transcribing. Legal transcribing is growing in popularity due to the advantages it provides to lawyers, attorneys, and law firms. They not only save time by not having to sift through audio and video files to locate the information they need, but they also get paperwork, which makes maintaining records simple. And, since your paralegals and assistants don't do the transcribing, they have more time to devote to other tasks. You may use your administrative employees for more difficult tasks and get the most out of your expenditure budget by using a legal transcribing business in place of them.

In other words, it lessens your workload and increases the efficiency of your work. The average cost of a legal transcriptionist per hour is less than the average rate of paralegals and assistants, thus investing in legal transcription may also save you time and money.

Conclusion

A single word can have a significant influence on the result of a legal case, which depends on precision and nuance. Legal transcription is a wise investment since it relieves attorneys' onerous workloads, lowers the possibility of mistakes, and helps law firms save money and resources. For court proceedings, an expert legal transcription service may be crucial. It may help in ensuring the correctness of court records, avoiding misconceptions that can result in errors in the verdicts of cases.

Because your legal practice requires the most precise transcriptions possible, we at Lingual Consultancy have you covered. We employ some of the most skilled transcribers in the industry, and we train them to provide an accurate and efficient legal transcription service to provide you with consistent and high-quality transcribed documents.