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05 August 2010 / Richard Michie
Issue: 7429 / Categories: Features , Legal services , Profession
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A fine art

Richard Michie describes the art of legal transcription

The legal profession is one of the oldest users of transcription, but gone are the days of the shorthand typist. Legal professionals need a much more accurate, timely and modern transcription service.

Legal transcription records cover such historic events as the Gun Fight at the OK Corral and the trial of Dick Turpin. So as well as a record for the courts, transcripts help to preserve history for generations to come. Over the years we have produced transcriptions for some of the most controversial and high-profile trials and inquests, including those concerning the deaths of Baha Mousa and Jean Charles de Menezes, as well as HR grievance cases, arbitration meetings, corporate negotiations and summaries of court proceedings.

Transcriptions for legal proceedings can’t have ambiguities and all the details must be exact, but there are a few problems.

  • First, the transcribers often have only limited information. Some names are concealed, some place names omitted and some context not provided by the client. This is a necessary
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NEWS
Criminal juries may be convicting—or acquitting—on a misunderstanding. Writing in NLJ this week Paul McKeown, Adrian Keane and Sally Stares of The City Law School and LSE report troubling survey findings on the meaning of ‘sure’
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has narrowly preserved a key weapon in its anti-corruption arsenal. In this week's NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers examines Guralp Systems Ltd v SFO, in which the High Court ruled that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) remained in force despite the company’s failure to disgorge £2m by the stated deadline
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
Employment law is shifting at the margins. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ this week, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School examines a Court of Appeal ruling confirming that volunteers are not a special legal species and may qualify as ‘workers’
Refusing ADR is risky—but not always fatal. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed and Sanjay Dave Singh of the University of Leicester analyse Assensus Ltd v Wirsol Energy Ltd: despite repeated invitations to mediate, the defendant stood firm, made a £100,000 Part 36 offer and was ultimately ‘wholly vindicated’ at trial
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