If you have good typing skills, an ear for typing what you hear, and some legal knowledge, these remote legal transcription jobs can make your work from home dream come true.
When it comes to work-from-home jobs, many people shy away from legal work. Complex language and expensive degrees immediately come to mind, but that doesn’t have to be the case. For example, with a basic knowledge of law, legal transcription jobs can be done from home on your own schedule.
When it comes to court transcription, many work-from-home jobs require qualified personnel. Demand for workers is high because they require specific skills, so if you have a legal background or are willing to get training, you can jump into this fast-growing industry that thrives on remote work.
Here are some ideas on how to get started in legal transcription and companies that currently have legal transcription jobs available.
What is a legal transcription?
A typical transcription job involves a contractor listening to various video recordings or audio files and typing what they hear into a Word document. There are many types of transcription jobs, including health (medical), insurance, and corporate.
What does a court scribe do? Their job is to transcribe information and materials into legal documents so that they become part of the legal record.
This includes items and events such as:
- testimony
- Trials and court proceedings
- Public hearings
- Deposition
- Legal proceedings
- Legal arguments
- Brief
- Memorandum
- statement
- Interrogation
- Witness interviews
- meeting
- phone
- Legal Communications
Believe it or not, there is a lot of variety in this field – every area of law requires a court scribe.
This means you can find lawyers with a variety of specialties, including criminal, family, real estate, corporate, personal injury, medical malpractice, insurance, debt collection and garnishment, and workers’ compensation claims.
As a court scribe, you can work directly for a legal professional, such as a lawyer or paralegal, in the private or public sector (including those run by the federal government). You can also work as a contractor for services employed by a law firm. This is the most common approach for those who are new to working as a court scribe and do not already have connections in the legal sector. Some scribes work directly in courtrooms, taking notes on a stenographer and transcribing spoken words. In this case, you are called a stenographer.
If you’re interested in law but don’t want to spend the time or money to get a law degree, there are legal transcription jobs available.
The benefits of court transcription work
In addition to working in an area of law that interests you, working as a court scribe has a lot to offer. Here are some benefits you can expect if you find work in this field:
- The pay is better. Compared to other transcription jobs, the legal field offers the highest pay. Most other work-from-home jobs are close to minimum wage, but because legal transcription requires a special skill set, it commands a higher salary, with an average annual salary of $42,443.
- There is a lot of work. This special skill set makes the legal field less competitive than other transcription jobs, and because demand is high, there’s no shortage of legal transcription jobs for qualified and experienced people.
- Flexible scheduling. In addition to high pay and plenty of job opportunities, freelance court transcriptionists also get to decide their own hours. Although you’ll still need to meet deadlines, as long as the work gets done on time, you can work whenever you want.
- No customer service. While many full-time or part-time work-from-home jobs require phone answering or customer service, legal transcription is an almost entirely solo job that requires little communication with others (though you do need good listening skills).
- Career growth. Because the legal field is in demand for experienced professionals, experience as a legal scribe may open up other career paths in the legal field.
What does it take to get a job as a court transcriptionist?
Getting a legal transcription job requires more skills and qualifications than a general transcription job or a medical transcription job.
This is a great opportunity for paralegals and legal assistants to work from home and earn extra income. No legal background is required, but you may need some training beforehand. TranscribeAnywhere offers online training courses in general and legal transcription to quickly get you up to speed and ready to work as a marketable professional.
The American Association of Electronic Journalists also offers a program to become a Certified Electronic Journalist (CET).
Since you will be working with legal documents, you should have a general knowledge of legal terminology and be familiar with legal procedures and documents, including knowing how to understand input and properly format it to create an accurate transcript.
Extensive experience in writing is important and you must ensure a high language skill level. This includes good grammar, spelling, editing and punctuation skills required for the job. These are legal documents so they need to be accurate. A high level of attention to detail, precise typing and good editing skills will ensure that everything is grammatically correct.
Other certification skills include being able to type quickly and with few errors to minimize the need for editing. You may be required to complete a dictation exam to test your typing speed.
In terms of physical equipment, you’ll need a reliable desktop or laptop computer, a keyboard, transcription software (such as Express Scribe), word processing software (Microsoft Word is the most common), and a high-speed Internet connection. Familiarity with transcription software is a plus.
Most companies also recommend using noise-canceling headphones and a foot pedal that allows you to pause and rewind the audio hands-free, which will improve your transcription proficiency.
Can I work as a court scribe without any experience?
It is not easy to land a court transcription job without prior experience or training. While there are some companies that don’t require experience, this is very rare. Most companies require a legal background or some kind of training.
During the interview process, you may be asked to take a typing test to verify your skills, and if the company hires you, you will most likely have to pass a criminal background check.
If you’re looking to do a side hustle but can only spare a few hours a week, the training probably won’t be worth the time and effort. In that case, you’re better off focusing on general transcription before branching out into the legal field. Once you’ve gained experience in general transcription, many law firms offer on-site training.
But if you’re looking for stable part-time or full-time work, court scribes can command high salaries and the additional training may be worth it.
While there is no formal degree in court transcription, most community colleges offer specialized courses for training in court transcription. Keep in mind that you will need a high school diploma or GED equivalent to enter these programs.
Or you can choose an online course like the TranscribeAnywhere course.
16 Court Transcription Jobs You Can Do From Home
Ready to get started? Get your resume in order and your cover letter in order. These companies are hiring now. Take a closer look at what makes each company unique and what qualifications they need, including training and confidentiality requirements.
1. You make a claim
Allegis primarily does insurance transcription work, but also does legal work. They hire entry-level to experienced transcriptionists. All of their transcriptionists are independent contractors, ensuring the flexibility you want. The company also employs US-based quality assurance specialists to ensure accuracy of transcriptions.
- Allegis transcription has an above average rating of 3.9 stars on Indeed.
2. Alphabet Secretary Service
Alphabet Secretarial Services hires transcriptionists for general, academic, corporate, medical and legal roles. The company is based in the UK but can work worldwide. Please keep in mind that spelling is British English.
You must have previous transcription experience and be a native English speaker. The application process is divided into several parts, including an application form, a grammar exercise, a transcription exercise, and signing a non-disclosure agreement.
- Alphabet Secretarial Services has a 5-star rating on RaveCapture.
3. Cambridge Transcription
Cambridge Transcriptions was founded in 1989 and provides transcription services in the medical, entertainment, corporate, insurance, finance, and legal fields. The company employs both remote and on-site part-time employees. The company only hires experienced transcriptionists, who must have a minimum of one year of transcription or court reporting experience.
4. Bekura Co., Ltd.
If you’re looking for full-time work as a court transcriber, check out VECRA. Applicants must have a high school diploma or GED and five years of professional experience. With multiple shifts available, you can work around your life and schedule.
- VECRA, Inc. has a 1.6-star rating on Glassdoor, with employees complaining about poor communication, so be sure to read the reviews carefully before applying.
5. VIQ
VIQ has acquired Net Transcripts, the market leader in police and law enforcement transcription services. Demand is high and you can work as much or as little as you like. A fast and accurate WPM and 1 year of general transcription experience are required.
6. Speak Right
SpeakWrite hires experienced court transcribers in the US or Canada. The company hires general transcribers with a minimum of one year of experience. Court transcription jobs require at least one year of recent experience in a law firm. Applicants must pass a typing test with an average of 60 WPM and 90% accuracy. Pay is average, but work is plentiful.
7. Tigerfish
Tigerfish is another transcription company that accepts beginners. However, you must be a US citizen or legal resident and live in the US. You must also pass an initial test. Accuracy is more important than speed. Their work includes law enforcement, interviews, documentaries, presentations, focus groups, and more.
8. Braces
Acolad (formerly Ubiqus) is very approachable for those with related experience in secretarial or writing roles. The company offers all kinds of transcription services and other summarization work in a variety of fields, including medical, financial, educational, and legal.
If you’re applying for a court transcription job, you’ll need legal experience, and you’ll find a ton of work available if you can get work done on a same-day or next-day basis.
9. Electronic Scriber
eScribers hires transcribers with a variety of experience levels, including beginners. In addition to transcribers, the company also hires court reporters. As the largest court transcription company, the company’s salaries are highly competitive, include regular bonuses, and transcribers are paid weekly.
10. Quick Tate
QuickTate hires independent contractors to transcribe phone messages, notes, letters, legal files, medical files, call recordings, and more. Applicants must have accurate spelling and grammar, pass a criminal background check, provide three letters of reference, and have previous transcription experience. QuickTate does not hire entry-level transcriptionists.
11. Transcription for everyone
Transcription for Everyone hires transcribers and editors from a variety of disciplines. Depending on your interests and experience, we assign you the right job. This speeds up turnaround time and reduces the audio challenge for transcriptionists. It offers growth opportunities for both transcribers and editors.
12. Kendall Creek Communications
At Kendall Creek Communications, we specialize in court transcription, and you can choose the jobs you are interested in based on the posted rates and available work. You can choose how much or how little work you want to do. Once you sign the project, you can work directly with the client to get the job done.
13. Jamison Professional Services
Jamison Professional Services offers medical and legal transcription jobs. Their legal transcriptionist salary is highly competitive and requires two years of experience and a typing speed of 65 WPM or higher with 95% accuracy. To be hired, applicants must pass a government clearance screening, which may include but is not limited to a background check.
14. Ditto Transcript
Ditto Transcripts offers transcription services in a variety of fields including medical, law enforcement, business, legal, and general transcription in the United States.
The company offers full-time transcription jobs as well as independent contractor positions, and to work for the company you must pass an entrance exam.
The company charges its court transcribers between $0.80 and $1.10 per minute, with higher rates possible for short turnaround times. For example, the company has paid as much as $5 per minute for overnight court transcriptions.
15. Transcribe Me
TranscribeMe offers remote transcription jobs to freelancers all over the world. No experience is required to sign up, just internet access.
After you pass the entrance exam and get certified, we will provide you with a stable job. You can choose the job that suits your schedule and work as much as you want. The only condition is that you complete at least one job per month.
TranscribeMe offers legal transcription services but does not have a dedicated legal team, meaning all legal work is offered at a general rate of $15 per hour of audio, and employees are paid via direct deposit into a Paypal account.
16. Daily Transcription
On DailyTranscription, you can find court transcriber jobs for 1-5 hours per week, making it a great side hustle. Independent contractors can earn $75-120 per audio hour. These rates are higher than many of our competitors, but the recommended experience level is 2-3 years and you must have a minimum typing speed of 50 WPM.
A final word on court transcription
For the right person, court transcription could be the perfect work from home job. There may be a steep learning curve at first, but once you understand the legal terminology and formatting, listening to a transcript is easy and quick. If you have any more questions about transcription jobs, please leave a comment below.
Want to know more law jobs you can do from home? Check out this post featuring the top 9 law jobs you can do from home.
Originally published on March 14, 2022. Content updated August 2024.
