Legal transcripts are essential for securing and preserving information for future reference. However, transcribing legal audio is not easy. There are many legal transcription challenges; overcoming them will take more than booting up an AI transcription tool and letting it run through a highly complex legal discussion. Your best bet is to enlist the help of a professional, human-powered legal transcription company.
So, what are the most effective strategies for preserving the quality of legal transcripts? Can legal professionals work with transcription services to minimize errors?
In this article, you’ll learn how:
- Typical accuracy guarantees for automated solutions reach up to 86%.
- Terms like “res ipsa loquitur,” meaning “the thing speaks for itself,” can baffle transcriptionists without legal backgrounds.
- Advanced transcription software and professional-grade recording equipment can produce high-quality audio files.
Importance of Accurate Legal Transcription
Even the tiniest mistake in legal transcription can snowball into a massive headache. Specifically, legal professionals often count on legal transcripts to build rock-solid cases or bring evidence to light in court.
So, when transcripts contain even the smallest error, it can lead to misunderstandings or decisions that miss the mark. It sabotages the efforts and the whole legal process.
Take Cody DeShields’s case, for example. It’s an eye-opener about how much damage transcription errors can cause.
It’s a long story. To sum it up, the transcriber accidentally wrote “36 months” instead of “36 years,” guess what? DeShields walked free way too soon and went on to commit another violent crime. It’s a horrific reminder of why legal documents must be handled with extreme attention to detail.
Cases Where Legal Transcripts Are Essential
Here are some of the most common instances of legal transcripts admissible.
| Scenario | Importance |
| Court Hearings | Provides accurate records for legal proceedings, aiding in judgments, appeals, legal actions, etc. |
| Depositions | Ensures precise documentation of witness testimonies for legal strategies or evidence presentation. |
| Police Interviews | Serves as evidence in criminal investigations and court cases, aiding in understanding events. |
| Legal Dictations | Facilitates accurate documentation of legal matters and record-keeping within legal organizations. |
| Witness Testimonies | Assists in evaluating claims and ensuring procedural fairness in administrative proceedings. |
Common Challenges in Legal Transcription
First, let’s discuss the common challenges in legal transcription (and later, how to overcome them).
Hard-to-understand Legal Terminology
The prevalence of legal jargon poses a significant challenge in legal transcription. Terms like “res ipsa loquitur,” meaning “the thing speaks for itself,” which refers to unforeseeable circumstances that prevent contract fulfillment, can be baffling for transcriptionists without legal backgrounds.
The complexity is further compounded by the fact that laws vary between countries and regions within the same nation. For the same reason, accuracy in legal transcripts becomes essential, as incorrectly transcribing these terms can have serious repercussions.
Simultaneous Speakers
Another common challenge in legal transcription is that more than one person may speak simultaneously. During heated courtroom exchanges or depositions, participants may inadvertently overlap their speech, making it difficult for transcriptionists to accurately attribute each speaker’s words.
For example, a witness may begin answering a question before the attorney has finished asking it, leading to a jumble of voices on the recording. This obstacle highlights the importance of keen attention to detail and a thorough understanding of the context for legal transcriptionists.
Regional Dialects or Speech Patterns
Legal transcriptionists can also find it challenging to tackle regional dialects that differ from common American English. Take the Cajun dialect in some parts of Louisiana—it has French words and pronunciation that can throw transcriptionists for a loop if they’re not in the know. Thick accents, fast talkers, and local lingo add to the challenge.
Even within the same country, the way people talk can vary greatly, so transcriptionists must have sharp ears and be quick on their feet. Botching dialect-specific terms or phrases can change the meaning of what’s being said, and it will certainly affect the accuracy and efficiency of the transcription process.
Background Noise or Poor Audio Quality
Disruptive sounds like shuffling papers, humming electronics, chatter from nearby conversations, and so on can make it a pain to figure out exactly what’s being said, as these disruptions can drown out the speakers’ voices.
If audio or video recordings are made with shoddy equipment or in a room with crummy acoustics, the audio can be muffled or echoed, making it worse for legal transcriptionists.
How To Overcome The Common Challenges Of Legal Transcription
Although not a one-size-fits-all solution, below are some of the most practical and actionable ones.
Implement Specialized Training
My team and I have been mastering the ins and outs of legal lingo since 2010, and all I can say is that it’s no walk in the park for our team of transcriptionists. They need to undergo specialized training that gets into the finer details of the legal field. These training programs should cover everything from everyday legal jargon to specific laws and how they’re applied.
Take a patent infringement case, for example. A transcriptionist working on it should be familiar with terms like “prior art” and “doctrine of equivalents” like the back of their hand. With this specialized training, transcriptionists can wrap their heads around legal proceedings and transcribe them accurately so the final documents are spot-on and reliable.
The bonus is that this expertise means they can handle all legal cases—from criminal trials to civil litigation—without breaking a sweat.
Use Modern Technologies
Another actionable solution to legal transcription obstacles is using modern tech. Advanced transcription software and professional-grade recording equipment can produce high-quality audio recordings.
Noise-canceling microphones, for example, can zero in on the speaker’s voice and tune out any ambient sounds, so it’s much easier for transcriptionists to understand legal terms or multiple speakers. These technologies boost the accuracy of the transcripts and improve the entire transcription process, so the job gets done faster.
Invest in Human-Powered Legal Transcription
Quality and accuracy are assured since the service provider focuses solely on transcription. As long as you outsource to human transcribers, it should be fine, right?
Well, not exactly. Dozens of legal transcription companies offer their services to legal teams online, providing deposition recordings to court transcripts. However, not all legal transcription companies are created equal. They might offer dirt-cheap legal transcription rates, but, as the saying goes, “You get what you pay for.”
By far, the best solution to overcome the common challenges in legal transcription is to get the help of qualified, professional experts like Ditto Transcripts.
How To Choose The Right Legal Transcription Service?
If you need legal transcriptionists, Ditto Transcripts offers the best service in the industry. Signing up for our services results in several advantages, including:
Accuracy
The repercussions of legal transcription inaccuracies can be heavy and far-reaching. Legal transcripts, especially verbatim ones, are frequently used in court hearings and other legal proceedings. This means that errors could lead to misinterpretations and have the potential to significantly—and negatively—impact an ongoing court case.
Some companies may offer low prices that reflect their lack of experience, and legal professionals can sometimes unknowingly fall for this trap. Transcripts from such providers are inaccurate and low-quality, as they’re not well-versed in legalese and jargon. Ultimately, dealing with low-quality legal transcription companies will cost you more time, money, and effort.
Never settle for the cheapest, fastest transcriber with the lowest accuracy rates. Choose Ditto; we can produce high-quality legal transcription every time, with 99% guaranteed accuracy rates. Any transcript you receive from us is guaranteed to be ready for use in court or legal research.
100% Human Transcription
Typical accuracy guarantees for automated solutions reach up to 86%. Meanwhile, 100% human transcription services like Ditto are more than 99% accurate. That means human-completed legal transcripts won’t have too many glaring errors, if at all. Verbatim transcription, even with complex legal jargon, is cleanly done. You can reliably use them for any court case with confidence that everything is accurate.
Affordability
Lawyers and professionals understand that quality legal transcription might come with a hefty price, but that price tag shouldn’t say “arm and leg.”
Reliable transcription companies meet their clients’ transcription needs quickly and accurately without charging exorbitant prices. Here at Ditto, we provide costs upfront and are willing to contact clients if the current pricing models don’t match the required work. Additionally, we allow clients pay-as-you-go options without committing to long-term contracts.
Confidentiality And Security Measures
Ditto’s legal transcription service has rigorous security protocols to ensure that every byte of data we receive is kept safe and confidential. Our security measures include:
- Detailed Reporting and Tracking Features
- Individually Defined User Access Levels
- Individual User Names, Passwords, and PINs (immediate deactivation upon request)
- Scaled Network Redundancy
- Virtual Private Network (VPN) Integration
- Dedicated Data Centers
- Encrypting All Data With SSL 256-bit Encryption
- Criminal Background Checks
Ability To Certify Transcripts
Legal transcriptions from depositions, custody hearings, conference calls, client meetings, witness statements, interviews, and other law enforcement transcription documents are common in legal proceedings. Furthermore, transcripts are admissible in court and are often submitted as evidence.
However, transcriptions submitted to the court require proper certification—meaning your transcriptionist must be able to certify their transcripts. Transcript certification has strict requirements, including the transcriber’s capacity to appear in open court and testify under oath. Offshore and automated transcription services, therefore, cannot certify transcripts. We, however, can certify any legal transcript upon request.
Quality Customer Service
With Ditto, you don’t have to worry about your transcribers ghosting you when you need them most. It doesn’t matter if you’re a current or prospective client; call us within normal business hours, and we’ll happily address any of your questions.
Overcome The Challenges Of Legal Transcription With Ditto
Don’t settle for cheap, inaccurate services or pay through the nose for expensive ones. Remember, a reputable transcription company with over a decade of legal experience, like Ditto Transcripts, will never compromise on the quality of your legal transcripts.
Contact Ditto for reliable, accurate, and affordable legal and verbatim court proceeding transcription. You can request a sample transcription to assess the quality of our service at any time.
Ditto Transcripts is a HIPAA and CJIS-compliant Denver, Colorado-based transcription services company that provides fast, accurate, and affordable transcripts for individuals and companies of all sizes. Call (720) 287-3710 today for a free quote, and ask about our free five-day trial.
