Job Description A. Harrison Barnes CEO of a leading legal job search portal BCG Search, the portal that provides legal jobs to thousands of law graduates in the US, believes that the success of such a job depends in effective documentation of the trial proceeds. Some of the other utilities of legal transcriptionists involve cataloging closed captions in real time for live or televised events and for this, the minimum qualification that is required of the candidate is A. High school diploma. The aim is to create an exact description of the verbal testimony in words through stenography. A. Harrison Barnes says that the job of a transcriptionist is to use specially made machines that can record and document more than one alphabet at a time for transcribing the events in an effective manner. With the rapid spread and growth of technology, accuracy of transcription is a factor that cannot be compromised on. A legal transcriptionist can employ the use of a voice recorder to capture the proceedings or take live notes during the proceedings and eventually would end up narrating the proceeds of the trial into the PC that is equipped with speech recognition software. A legal transcriptionist is generally employed by the local or state government to document the processes of the legislative governmental bodies.
Educational Qualifications Required
A legal transcriptionist, if they want to take up law employment, is required to undergo training which will make them skilled and knowledgeable in the required field. They can work as an intern or apprentice in the initial year and then move on to specializations. In fact, according to A. Harrison Barnes, the law job expert, it is crucial to move slowly but steadily through the various stages of growth, for which the first year is the most important. When the transcriptionist is working as a starter, they can work with voice recorders, although for a stenographer, it may require at least 3 years to function smoothly. Voice recording is however not as popular as stenography is since here the transcriptionist has to take care of a lot of issues while reproducing the trial. Different states may have different requirements, although aspects such as skill sets, expertise in the related field and knowledge are common deciding factors.
Legal transcribers are provided with study materials that include supplements, legal journals, and books, fast and easy learning systems, and organizers, videos, CDs and other learning aide to supplement their law jobs within 5 to 7 days of their enrolment. They are also required to sit for open text online examinations. In fact, A. Harrison Barnes says that a lot of the transcribers move on to legal or paralegal careers.
Moreover, once you are in a legal employment, ensure that you pick up on speed. This is the most important parameter in a legal job and guarantees that you stay in demand. The average typing speed of a legal transcriptionist is 225 words a minute ideally with 100% accuracy. When you look into the technical side of things, modern technology provides constantly improving tools that can be immensely helpful in your career as a legal transcriptionist. You need to install the most suitable software your computer. This would depend on the preference of the attorney or other clients requesting your services. A Legal Solutions program is divided into modules depending on the preferred legal avenue. An Olympus recorder is conventionally used for transcription purposes to record voice files as it is user friendly and can give you many options with regards to how you would like to save your voice files and how you would want to transfer them onto your computer.
Listening skills must be above average as well for putting what you hear to paper, even when people are carrying on mutual conversations. Of course, fluency in speech, and specialized skills in grammar and spellings are a must. So, if you are aiming to become a court legal transcriptionist, A. Harrison Barnes, the CEO of BCG Search would suggest that you use the voice recorder as well as be proficient in listening and narration.
Career Outlook
Legal transcription is a law career that lets you get the best of real time captioning, and this is further substantiated by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics that the job prospects of the transcribers are growing towards the better. Apart from this, a legal transcription career provides you with a window into the day-to-day proceedings of a legal career without getting you directly involved in the hassles of practicing law. With experience and a professional outlook, you could spread into previously unchartered territory with regards to a legal career. A 25% increase has been projected in the next decade which is followed up by A. Harrison Barnes himself, who is familiar with the insides of the legal industry and job market. The 2006 statistics demonstrate that approximately there were 19000 court transcriptionists in the US, with over 50% of them employed in the government sector. Others functioned as court reporting agents, while around 9% were freelancers. The average salary per year for law transcriptionists was around $37,500 to $46000. A beginner’s salary package could come to around $24,000 to $27,000. You could be looking at earning anywhere from $15 to $25 per hour. Depending on your skill set, if you could build a reputation with time, you could charge even up to $40 per hour for customers who demand speed and 100% accuracy.
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