Transcribe Proceedings

Transcribing proceedings turns live or recorded audio from hearings, depositions, mediations, client meetings, or interviews into accurate, structured text. The task typically includes obtaining consent and verifying recording permissions; ensuring high-quality input (clear mic placement, backup recorder, noise checks); separating speakers; inserting timestamps at sensible intervals or by turn; and flagging inaudible passages, overlaps, and nonverbal cues when relevant. Good practice adds a header (matter name, date, location, participants), a table of contents with timecodes, and consistent speaker labels tied to a caption or appearance list.

Post-processing steps often include spot-checking against the audio, normalizing punctuation and capitalization, expanding abbreviations, and aligning referenced exhibits or case numbers. For court-facing use, teams may convert the transcript into required formats (PDF with line numbers, certified pages, signatures) and create derivative artifacts: issue-tagged excerpts, pull quotes for motions, and citation-ready page/line references. AI can accelerate speech-to-text, diarization, and keyword indexing, and can draft summaries or action lists—but humans must review for accuracy, privilege, and sensitivity, especially with accents, legal terminology, or poor audio. Privacy and ethics are central: follow consent rules, redact PII and protected details, store files securely, and respect any jurisdiction-specific limits on recording or transcript distribution.