Those who work as lawyers or alongside them are always caught up with so much and their to-do lists just get finished. The work hours keep getting longer and longer to go over essential documents, court readings or interviews. Here’s where legal transcription comes into the picture. It is a practice by professionals who listen to the audio files of all that needs to be documented and produce easy-to-read text documents.
The documents that may have to be produced by a legal transcriptionist include pleadings, motions, correspondence, agreements, legal memorandums, time entries, court readings, interviews, and more. These transcribed documents can be presented in courts.
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How Do Legal Transcriptionists Work?
First, the transcriptionists need to be provided with an audio file based on which the transcribed document will have to be produced. Usually, with a headset, they listen to these recordings, pausing as and when required with the help of a foot pedal and they type the text based on the dictated recordings, to be entered in the computer
This is different from the work of a stenographer or a court recorder, as it is done with the help of stenography equipment and the document produced is based on live proceedings in a courtroom or in a deposition to record the testimony taken before the court proceedings.
The duties that come along with legal transcription are as follows:
- Editing the information for better readability
- Removing grammatical and typographical errors
- Reviewing and proofreading
- Filing legal documents and keeping track of deadlines
- Securely archiving the transcribed files for the use of clients if they lose the original ones
Why Should People Hire Legal Transcriptionists?
Legal transcription services are of great help for law firms irrespective of their size. The prime reason law firms, attorneys and others might require their services is that a great amount of time is saved which would have otherwise been spent in listening to audio files for pieces of little information.
Also, it improves the entire workflow of the offices, as paralegals, assistants and other team members can focus more on the other important tasks instead of transcribing the files. Work can be streamlined and managed properly while concentrating on tasks that require attention immediately.
Moreover, it saves a lot of your costs. How? The paralegals and legal secretaries in your office are valuable members with legal knowledge, and thus they are paid very high as compared to an outsourced legal transcription service. Thus, their time must be spent on significant tasks rather than listening to audio files, transcribing them, and then editing and so on.
Thus, the industry of professional legal transcriptionists is booming and both the customers and providers of this service have great opportunities for expanding their business.
