Top Tips for Hiring a Legal Transcription Services Company

There is zero room for error when it comes to the quality of legal transcription. But, how do you know that the company you’re hiring is as good as their website makes them out to be.

Well, apart from rolling the dice and hoping for the best, you need to take advantage of key questions, savvy research, and be ready to look elsewhere when you’re not wholly satisfied. Admittedly, hiring a legal transcription services company is not a one hour task, but remember this is for your own benefit – you need to have complete confidence and trust in the company you hire.

Before hiring the first legal transcription company that appears in the Google search results page, make sure you’ve followed our top tips for hiring a legal transcription company.

Do Your Research

Thoroughly read everything you can find online about potential companies. This includes visiting review sites, social media accounts, and contacting previous clients. Find out how many projects the company has and the priority given to your company. Confirm the format of the final legal transcription product, know how you’ll receive the file and when.

Ask For Proof of Accuracy

Ask the legal transcription company to provide you with proof of accuracy. This includes providing you with examples of previous transcriptions. Know that the quality of accuracy in legal transcription varies broadly, so you want a company that can guarantee and offer proof of 98% accuracy.

Remember the Non-Disclosure Agreement

If the company doesn’t agree to sign a non-disclosure agreement, walk away.

Confirm the Turnaround Time and Schedule

Ask about the standard turnaround time for legal transcription. Find out if the company has a back-up plan should an employee get sick or run into issues with the transcription. Ask about the schedule and about rush transcription. Make sure the person responsible for your legal transcription doesn’t have too many projects on-the-go.

Get and Check References

Just as you do when hiring a new employee, you need to get and check references for the legal transcription company. If the company representative hesitates on providing references, this is a definite sign that you should look elsewhere. Along with references, ask for examples of previous transcription work. You may also want to ask for examples of previous schedules and a demonstration of how the final product is delivered.

Ask About Data Security

It’s very important that you have extreme confidence in the company’s and the transcriber’s data security. Ask about how and where transcription data is stored. Find out what happens to this data once the project is completed. Ask about data security for work-from-home legal transcribers. You need to know that all sensitive data including names, addresses, social security numbers, financial data, health records, and any other identifiers are kept 100% secure.

Verify Industry Expertise

Make sure you hire a company that does specialize in legal transcription services. There are so many transcription services online that it can be easy to accidentally hire a company that does not focus on legal transcription. Be wary of companies that claim to service all industries, you want a company that specializes in legal transcription – this helps ensure the accuracy, validity, and confidence in the final product.  

Know What You Want

It’s one thing to ask the legal transcription company hard questions and to hold them to high standards, but if you don’t know what you want and need – you’re no further ahead. Make sure you know what you need and when you need it by. Know how you plan to make the audio available to the transcription company and confirm that this is an acceptable format. Before signing any contracts, confirm the delivery schedules, the pricing structure, the turn-around time, and the format of the transcribed data.

Essentially, the more time spent asking questions and narrowing down deliverables – the better the final result. You want to be satisfied with the legal transcription and the company wants to make sure you’re satisfied. By being thorough and following our tips for hiring a legal transcription service company, you’re helping yourself and the company doing the work.