Jobs in Legal Transcription

Copyright (c) 2009 Ajay Prasad

In order to become a Legal Transcriptionist or work in a Legal Transcription Company, one needs to have some basic knowledge of legal terminologies and good typing speed. But sometimes it is difficult to find job even after brushing these skills. You may not be able to find a job in Legal Transcription as employers are looking for people who are 'certified', which means they have completed an accepted legal transcription course. This is a professional-level program leading to a Legal Transcriptionist Career Diploma. You can also enroll yourself in some legal transcription courses available online or at home or in a school. These courses include easy-to-understand lessons, supplements and special learning aids. The duration of these courses ranges from 8 to 12 weeks.

The course provided online can be done from home. This on-line distance learning program is self-paced. It is divided into various modules and is easy to learn. The information given in a module is first tested and the next module is presented only if one fully grasps the concept of the first one. The state-of-art home training program is divided into two modules and practice hours for dictation. The module deals with the law and how it works and an overview of the profession. It also teaches about the U.S.legal system, roles, responsibilities and issues related to the system.

Along with the above the course includes the basic rules of English grammar and typing rules. It also discusses the employment opportunities provides website for research purpose and for enhancing educational skills on-line. The study materials of the course consist of books, supplements, organizers, quick learning system and learning aids such as CD's, video instruction .This material generally reaches the student 5-7 days of enrollment. All the exams conducted for such courses are open book. The exam may be taken online or through e-mails. Many transcriptionists further their careers into paralegal studies or even law. If one has a doubt, the instructor is just one call away.

The course will also include some knowledge about the criminal proceedings, life cycle of a crime, difference between criminal proceedings and civil proceeding and trial by jury process. In civil suits, it is important to be familiar with the terms associated with civil law suits. Other proceedings are also explained from filing a suit till its settlement. Special laws to be studied are personal injury, family law, administrative law and litigant, business organizations, wills and real estate, contracts, bankruptcy and patent & trademarks. The skills of a stenotype and the phonetic language of a court reporter are also a part of the course material. There are some software that one need to master and some others which are handy for Legal Transcription .They are Hotdocs, WordPerfect and MS Word. You may also need to upload/download protocol such as FTP. For the training you will need a computer with a modem or DSL and MS Word or WordPerfect (legal version) and a CD player. Dictionaries are always handy.

All this sounds easy, but it should be remembered that self study and self learning requires extra commitment and patience. One has to be self motivated and study on his own to train for a better career. Some courses offer legal secretarial work with the legal transcription study. In addition to the online and college courses, many employers allow individual to train while being on the job and also train the new recruits if they have to work in the field of Legal Transcription.