When it comes to work-from-home jobs, many shy away from anything with legal in the title. Instant thoughts of complicated language and expensive degrees come to mind, but that isn’t always the case. For example, legal transcription jobs can be done from home on your own schedule with a basic knowledge of the law.
When it comes to legal transcription, many work-from-home jobs need qualified individuals. Because it requires some skill set, there’s a high demand for workers. So if you either have a legal background or are willing to get some training, you can swoop right into a booming industry full of remote work.
Here are some ideas on how to get started and companies with open legal transcription jobs available right now!
What is Legal Transcription?
In general transcription work, contractors listen to all kinds of audio and video recordings and write down what they hear verbatim into a word document. There are all types of transcription: health, insurance, corporate, and more.
For legal transcription, this would mean transcribing info and sources into legal documents to go into the legal record.
This can include items or events such as:
- Testimonies
- Trials and court proceedings
- Hearings
- Depositions
- Legal proceedings
- Legal pleadings
- Briefs
- Statements
- Interrogations
- Meetings
- Phone calls
- Legal correspondence
There is variety when it comes to the field of work too. Every area of law needs legal transcriptionists, including criminal, family, real estate, corporate, personal injury, medical malpractice, insurance, collections and foreclosures, and worker’s compensation claims and defense – just to name a few!
As a legal transcriber, you can work directly for lawyers and paralegals in the private or public sectors, including federally-run departments. You may also work as a contractor for a service that law firms hire. This is the most common route for those new to legal transcription and who do not yet have connections in the legal sector.
Benefits of Legal Transcription Jobs
There’s a lot to love about working as a legal transcriptionist. Here are some of the pros you can expect if you find a job in the field:
- Better pay. Compared to other transcription jobs, you will get the best compensation in the legal sector. Most other work from home jobs are close to minimum wage. However, since you need a particular skillset for legal transcription, it pays higher, with average earnings of $41,000 per year.
- Lots of jobs. Because of this special skill set, the legal sector is less competitive than other transcription jobs. Combined with high demand, there won’t be a lack of work for qualified and experienced legal transcribers.
- No customer service. Many full or part-time work-from-home jobs require you to be on the phone or do customer service. Legal transcription is almost entirely solo work that requires minimal communication with others.
- Career growth. Because of the demand for experienced professionals in the legal field, having experience as a legal transcriptionist can open up other career paths in the legal sector.
What Do I Need to Qualify for Legal Transcription Jobs?
To qualify for a legal transcription job, you will need more skills and qualifications than general or even medical transcription work. It’s an excellent opportunity for paralegals or legal assistants to work from home or have more flexible work. Others can do it too without a legal background, but you may need to take some training beforehand. TranscribeAnywhere offers online training courses in general and legal transcription that can quickly get you up to speed.
Since you’ll be working with legal documents, you need a general knowledge of legal terminology and be familiar with legal procedures and documentation. This entails understanding what you’re typing and knowing how to format it properly.
A strong background in writing will ensure you have the correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and editing skills for the job. Since these are legal documents, they need to be accurate. A high level of attention to detail and strong editing skills ensures everything is grammatically correct. You also need to type fast with few mistakes to ensure a minimal need for editing.
In terms of actual equipment, you need a reliable desktop or laptop computer, keyboard, transcription software, word processing software (Microsoft Word is most common), and a high-speed internet connection.
Most companies also encourage the use of noise-canceling headphones to listen and a foot pedal to pause and rewind audio handsfree, therefore increasing your transcribing proficiency.
Can You Work as a Legal Transcriptionist Without Experience?
It’s not super easy to break into legal transcription without any prior experience or training. Some companies don’t require any experience, but this is quite rare. Most want you to already have a legal background or some kind of training. During the interview process, you are typically asked to take a typing test to determine your skillset, and if hired, you’ll likely need to pass a criminal background check.
If you’re looking for a side-hustle and can only commit a few hours a week, the time and effort spent on training may not be worth it. It’s better to stick to general transcription before breaking into the legal sector. Once you have general transcription experience, many law offices offer on-site training.
But if you are looking for part-time to full-time work, the training will be worth it for the higher pay. There are not any official degrees for legal transcription, but most community colleges offer specialized courses for legal transcription training.
13 Legal Transcription Jobs to Work From Home
Ready to get started? Brush off your resume and spruce up your cover letter because these companies are hiring individuals right now. Included are what makes each company unique and the qualifications needed to get hired.
1. Allegis
Allegis mostly hires for insurance transcription jobs, but they do legal work too. They hire entry-level and experienced transcriptionists as well as QA specialists who are US-based. The rates for this company are above average.
- Allegis transcription receives a 3.1-star rating on Glassdoor.com
2. Alphabet Secretarial Services
Alphabet Secretarial Services hires transcription workers for general, corporate, medical, and legal work. While they are UK-based, you can work worldwide, but spelling is UK English. You need to have previous transcription experience, and they require English to be your first language.
- Alphabet Secretarial Services receives a 5-star rating on TrustSpot
3. Cambridge Transcriptions
Cambridge Transcriptions has work available for corporate and legal transcriptionists. They hire part-time workers both remotely and on-site. They employ experienced transcriptionists only, requiring at least one year of transcription or court reporting experience.
- Cambridge Transcriptions receives a 4.6-star rating on Indeed
4. Dictate Express
Those looking to work at Dictate Express as a legal transcriptionist must live in the US and have two years of experience in the profession. Full or part-time work is available, and you determine your own hours.
- Dictate Express receives a 3.5-star rating on Indeed
5. Net Transcripts
Net Transcripts offers police and law enforcement transcription work. The demand for work is high, offering both part-time and full-time employment. While no technical experience is required, they do require a 98% accuracy and want you to type at least 80 words a minute.
- Net Transcripts receives a 3.2-star rating on Glassdoor.com
6. SpeakWrite
SpeakWrite hires experienced transcriptionists who live in the US or Canada. They hire for general transcription with a minimum of one year of experience. For their legal transcription jobs, you need at least two years of recent experience. The pay is average, but the work is plentiful.
- SpeakWrite transcription receives a 2.9-star rating on Glassdoor.com
7. Tigerfish
Tigerfish is another transcription company that accepts beginners. However, you must be US-based and pass their initial test. Accuracy is more important than speed. Their work includes law enforcement, interviews, documentaries, and focus groups.
- Tigerfish receives a 5-star rating on Indeed
8. Ubiqus
Ubiqus is quite friendly for anyone who has related experience, such as secretarial work, writing work, etc. They offer all kinds of transcription services and other summary work too.
If applying for legal transcription work, previous experience as a legal employee is needed. For those who can do same-day or next-day work, you will get tons of work coming your way.
- Ubiqus receives a 3.4-star rating on Glassdoor.com
9. eScribers
To work for eScribers, you must be a US citizen and have transcription experience, especially in the legal field. They need transcribers, proofreaders, and stenographic reporters in the legal field. Their pay is highly competitive as they are one of the largest legal transcription companies.
- eScribers receives a 3.9-star rating on Glassdoor.com
10. QuickTate
QuickTate hires independent contractors to transcribe phone messages, notes, letters, legal files, medical files, recordings of phone calls, and more. You must have excellent spelling and grammar, pass a criminal background check, and have prior transcribing experience.
- QuickTate receives a 3.3-star rating on Glassdoor.com
11. Deposition Services
Deposition Services specializes in legal work. They allow you to set your own hours and availability, hiring both part-time and full-time employees. They do not explicitly say you need transcription experience, but you need to explain why you would make a qualified transcriber when applying.
- Deposition Services receives a 3.5-star rating on Glassdoor.com
12. Transcription for Everyone
Transcription for Everyone hires transcribers and editors in various sectors. Depending on your interests and experience, they will assign you work that is right for you. This helps increase turnaround time and reduce audio difficulty for their transcriptionists. They offer opportunities for growth for both transcribers and editors.
- Transcription for Everyone receives a 3-star rating on Glassdoor.com
13. Kendall Creek Communications
Specializing in legal transcription, Kendall Creek Communications allows you to select work you would be interested in based on the posted rate and available work. Once you’ve signed on for a project, you get to work directly with the client to complete the job.
- Kendall Creek Communications receives a 3.5-star rating on Glassdoor.com
Conclusion
For the right person, legal transcription may be the perfect work-from-home job. Once you understand the initial legal terms and formatting, it’s easy to listen and breeze through transcriptions. If you have any further questions about transcription jobs, leave them in the comments down below.
Interested in more work-from-home law jobs? Check out this post on the 9 best work from home legal jobs!
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