Court hearing recordings arrive in every condition imaginable: clean feeds from the courtroom system, phone recordings from the gallery, screen captures of remote proceedings with the audio ducking in and out. The transcript can only be as good as the recording, so it is worth knowing what helps.
Get the best available source
Many courts provide an official audio recording on request, sometimes for a fee. If one exists for your hearing, it is almost always the best source: it is captured from the courtroom microphones, it includes the bench, and it is the version the court itself would rely on. Ask the clerk's office how to request it and how long it takes.
If you are recording a remote hearing yourself, record locally rather than relying on the platform's cloud recording when you can, and keep the original file. Compressed re-uploads lose detail that a transcriptionist needs for difficult passages.
Check the file before you send it
Open the recording and listen to the first minute, a passage in the middle and the end. You are checking for:
- Audible speakers. Can you tell the judge, counsel and witnesses apart?
- Consistent level. Does the volume drop when someone moves away from a microphone?
- Gaps. Did the recording stop and restart? Note the timestamps if it did.
- Format. Common formats such as MP3, WAV, M4A, MP4 and MOV upload without conversion. Proprietary player formats from some court systems may need exporting first.
Send context with the file
A transcriptionist who knows the matter works faster and makes fewer errors. In the special instructions, include:
- The case caption and docket number as they should appear on the transcript.
- The names and roles of everyone who speaks: judge, counsel for each party, witnesses, interpreter, clerk.
- Spellings of any names, places, products or technical terms that are likely to come up.
- The portion you need, if you do not need the whole hearing. A time range is enough.
- Whether you need the transcript certified, and for which court, so the certification page can be prepared correctly.
Decide on timestamps and speaker labels
Hearing transcripts are usually labelled by role: THE COURT, MR. HALE, THE WITNESS. If you prefer names throughout, say so. Periodic timestamps make it easier to cross-reference the audio and are included on request.
What happens after upload
Once the file is in, the specialist assigned to it will flag any passage that cannot be heard as inaudible with a timestamp rather than guessing. If a section is unusable, you will hear about it early, not on the delivery date. That early warning is one of the main reasons to send a file sooner rather than later.