Real-time transcription has been proven to be incredibly valuable to lawyers especially when it comes to videotaped or remote depositions. But how can you be able to make the most of real-time transcription? Here are a few tips that can help you enjoy the most benefits out of using a real-time transcription service.

With the continuous technological progress, things and processes of the old days are getting obsolete. Even legal matters and processes are being greatly impacted by the advancement of technology. Court reporting, for instance. The modern systems, devices, and tool which was once taken for granted by law firms and lawyers before are starting to become widely used today. As many lawyers witnessed and experienced remarkable changes in the field of court reporting, more and more lawyers are now utilizing these modern devices.

Is the traditional court reporting getting obsolete nowadays?

Unlike the old times, audio and video recording devices are now easily accessible. This makes everyone with a digital recorder, camera, or smartphone able to easily capture audio and video recordings, even inside the courtroom. Lawyers are now utilizing these products of technology during a court proceeding, prosecution or administrative hearing, trial, and deposition. The question is, does this mean that court reporting is getting obsolete nowadays?

Truly, the advancement in technology has made keeping records during a court proceeding, prosecution or administrative hearing, trial, and deposition faster and easier. However, no matter how sophisticated a certain recording device is, it cannot equal to the skills and experience of the court reporters in Atlanta GA.

Court reporters are professionals who transcribe spoken words during court proceedings into a written record that can be read, understood, and filed. They play a vital role in court hearings. Their job entails producing a valid and accurate real-time report of a court proceeding, deposition, trial, prosecution or administrative hearing. Court reporters in Georgia are required to have a professional work ethic. With this particular field of work, it is expected that a court reporter is always ready for the unexpected.

Aside from recording all words that are verbally uttered by the witness and speakers in a court procedure, there are many other areas where a court reporter can provide service. They can work in live telecasts to provide translation for audiences who have hearing problems. They can also be of assistance to clients who need special services. One of the court reporting services that are real-time transcription.

What Is Real-Time Transcription?

Real-time transcription is a way of capturing the record of any legal proceeding and producing a transcript within just a few seconds after the words are uttered. To be able to deliver a real-time transcription, the court reporters for legal matters need to be highly skilled and experienced. A typical steno machine is needed to type spoken words using the shorthand key combinations. Real-time transcription also entails using specialized computer software which instantly translates the key codes to text. The translated text will then be displayed on the screen so everyone in the room can see and read it. This court reporting service is also used in fields that require captioning like in the case of broadcasting.

How to make the most of real-time transcription?

Real-time transcription has been proven to be incredibly valuable to lawyers especially when it comes to videotaped or remote depositions. It does not only provide instant trial transcripts but it also helps improve immediate annotations and advanced search capabilities, all of these can help in the quick progress of the case. Real-time transcription also allows advanced search capabilities and enhances the ability to directly quote something from the record. But how can you be able to make the most of real-time transcription? Here are a few tips that can help you enjoy the most benefits out of using a real-time transcription service.

Pick the right court reporter

As said earlier, a real-time transcription requires the court reporter to be highly skilled and experienced. This means that not all court reporters can do the job really well. The key to a successful real-time transcription is to pick the right court reporter. Hire the one that possesses such specialized skill.

There are still many lawyers, paralegals, and legal assistants who are not yet aware of real-time transcribing. If a quick or live transcription is needed, they usually request for LiveNote, proprietary software that also requires the court reporter to complete a specialized education. When visiting the court reporting firm, make sure to let them know that you need a real-time feed or simply real-time so that the firm will know that you do not only need LiveNote but also a real-time software or real-time screen which the court reporter needs to bring during the hearing or deposition.

Determine whether you need an expedited transcript or not

Normally, when the deposition is over, the real-time court reporter will provide you with a cleaned-up rough draft of the transcript. Though this is already included in the real-time service package, you can always opt not to get a cleaned-up rough draft. Make sure to make this matter clear with the court reporting firm so they can assign someone who can deliver your requirements. If you think you will need an expedited transcript or rough draft, let the firm know as well so they can send someone who can deliver the draft or transcript faster, most preferably someone who does not have a large backlog.

Get ready with the document for reading ahead of time

Most of the time, when people read a document in front of the court or during a deposition, they do it really quickly not because they run out of time but because they know that the other people inside the court are also reading the document along with them. And when they read texts quickly, most of the time they do it without enunciating well the words or punctuations. For the court reporter to deliver a correct final transcription, he or she may ask you to provide a copy of the document. It pays to get ready with the document so that the court reporter can have it whenever needed.

Marking the real-time feed

Just in case you need to mark the transcript during the real-time feed and you use the Thomson Reuter’s Case Notebook or LexisNexis product CaseMap, you can ask the court reporter to export the portable transcript file and have it sent to your email. The notes you marked on the real-time transcript will be transferred to the rough draft and the final transcript.

Provide the necessary information the court reporter needs during the deposition

Court reporters who are trained and skilled at delivering real-time transcription are expected to work faster than they usually do. However, hearing and typing in new words and names can take time. To speed up work, make sure that you provide the court reporter with the list of names of the witnesses or word glossary which will be mostly used during the litigation. This allows the court reporter to encode and enter the words and names into the stenographic dictionary before the deposition. It also allows the reporter to create brief forms that can help make the rough draft and real-time feed a bit faster and cleaner.

The court reporter will encode the words, phrases, or names they hear phonetically. To help the court reporter record the exact words or names, especially their spelling, you have to provide him the list of unfamiliar words and correct spellings of names. He can always ask you the same after the deposition, though, but it is better to have these names and words correctly written during the real-time transcription.