Legal transcription is just one service in which transcription companies provide. Even though these services are used within many industries, the use of legal transcription holds a great deal of importance for numerous reasons.
Companies that offer legal transcription take various types of audio or video files, including legal hearings and witness statements, and transcribe them into written documents which offer many benefits.
How Are Legal Transcription Services Used?
Companies offering legal transcription services will have transcriptionists to hand, which specialise in the legal industry, available to be able to carry out the transcription process. There is a great deal of importance in the transcriptionist having knowledge of the legal industry to assure that the end result is extremely accurate. They will also have an understanding of the terminology used, as well as the importance of what they are dealing with.
Legal transcription is used in a number of different situations within the industry. Having highly accurate documentation is vital within the legal industry and inaccurate information could lead to an incorrect verdict being reached.
Legal meetings, witness interviews, hearings and interrogations are all recorded to create an audio or sometimes even a video file. These files will then be sent off to a company where a professional legal transcriptionist will carry out the process. After this a text document can then be produced and filed to be referred back to when necessary.
Why Is Legal Transcription Important?
Having written documents of important legal meetings hold many benefits. The first being the convenience it offers when it comes to referring back to certain aspects of the conversation. Without the written document, the lawyer running the case would have to sit and listen to the audio over and over again going backwards and forwards to find parts that they are looking for.
With having the text in front of them, they can easily highlight the key points they want to focus on, making it easier to come back to that exact part of the conversation. It also means you can write notes next to it making it easier to visually see how the notes correspond with the speech from the audio.
In comparison to an audio of someone talking, a written document leaves little room for misinterpretation, and allows everyone who has the text in front of them to be on the same page. This can be beneficial when it comes to presenting this text to a jury, as everyone can understand the text in the same way. In this case the transcribed document would be presented alongside the original audio it was transcribed from. This also makes it easier to follow.
Legal transcription also makes organisation a lot more straightforward. This is important due to the fact most lawyers have more than one case they are working on at a time. Paper is easier to file and store, and is also easier to keep multiple copies of to be safe. As well as this, it is a lot quicker to duplicate these with the use of a photocopier.
If audio and video files are not stored safely and backed up there is a risk of these files corrupting and sometimes being lost. This could mean that important evidence ends up going missing.
What Should You Look For In Companies Offering Legal Transcription Services?
When it comes to looking at companies that offer legal transcription it is important to make sure you are using a reputable company. It is super important that the results are fully accurate and that your files are safe.
You want to make sure the company has the necessary measures in place to assure that the document is going to be kept within the company, and that the information is not going to be leaked or exposed to the public. If the information is released, it can often have a negative impact on the case.
Another thing you should look out for is if the company offers legal transcription as a service. If you look into companies that do not state legal transcription as something they offer, they may not have transcribers in their team with the relevant experience or knowledge to transcribe legal documents in the most accurate way.
You should also consider if the company you are planning on using is a UK based transcription company. Some companies use an offshore transcription service, which can cause an issue in the level of accuracy of the final outcome, as well as offer risks when it comes to privacy outside of the UK. This is because some countries do not have the same laws in regards to privacy.
To Summarise
There are many reasons as to why legal transcription plays an important role within legal cases. Written documents are a lot safer to store than keeping the recorded conversations as audio or video files, and they are also easier to organise.
As well as this, providing the jury with a written copy makes it easier for them to follow along with the speech of important talks such as witness statements and interrogations. It also eliminates the risk of missing information and allows each member of the jury to understand what is being said in the same way.