If you’re a good listener, and are interested in law specialties, there can’t be a job better than that of a legal transcriptionist. Salary figures, job description, and career prospects are discussed below in depth.
If you’re aware of what medical transcription is, understanding the object of legal transcription is extremely easy. Acknowledged for its professional and highly efficient influence in the field of law, legal transcription, much like medical transcription, is a field that has become immensely popular in recent years. With a headset on, a word processor file to type on, and concentration, legal transcriptionists listen to dictations by legal professionals, and type them into edited and grammatically sane documents that are then turned into a record for future reference.
Legal transcriptionists deal with interrogations, court hearings, pleadings, and testimonies, thus, hearing them to create an all-inclusive record. While that’s a fluttering peek of the job description of a legal transcriptionist, salary range of the same is discussed in the following section. Take a look.
Legal Transcriptionist Pay Scale
Those who’re aspiring to frame a career in legal transcription have a reason to smile. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), America, jobs in the field of legal transcription are expected to grow by 22 percent in the next 5 years. As of today, the average salary of a legal transcriptionist in the United States of America is around $34,000. However, with increasing experience, salary figures take a hike too. The following tabular data represents their annual pay scale in all major cities of America. Have a look:
| State/City | Salary (in USD) |
| San Francisco | $41,000 |
| New York | $39,000 |
| Washington D.C. | $38,000 |
| California | $36,000 |
| Atlanta | $35,000 |
| Chicago | $35,000 |
| Baltimore | $33,000 |
| Dallas | $32,000 |
| Philadelphia | $30,000 |
| Denver | $30,000 |
| Pittsburgh | $27,000 |
As depicted above, San Francisco is the city that pays the highest, while Pittsburgh accounts for the lowest. These figures are approximate, and largely dependent on the workplace you choose to serve in. Those transcriptionists who work from home get higher wages than the ones working in a typical office, and may go up to $60,000 per year.
How to Become a Legal Transcriptionist
After getting an idea about the attractive salary figures of legal transcriptionists in various cities of US, you must be wanting to know how to kick-start your career as one. To start with, one must have an associate’s degree in law, especially in Paralegal studies. Across the United States, there are a number of colleges that offer an associate’s degree where they get you acquainted with various court systems, the dissimilarities between court cases, legal terminology, and also English language training.
It is highly essential for a legal transcriptionist to have impeccable English, a good hold on written language, and an incredible typing speed (85 words per minute or more). What’s more, an associate’s degree will help the aspirant learn about transcription equipment that they would need to bring into use.
Many self-study courses are accessible on the Internet, which can be of great use for brushing up your knowledge about legal transcription. After you’ve gained a degree in the field, and are sure about your grammar and typing speed, you can apply for a job as a legal transcriptionist in law firms across the country. What’s more, you could register in job boards such as SimplyHired, Monster, Craigslist, etc. and upload your resume. The key is to market yourself in law firms, and assure them that you’re better than others.
The job market is such that the more jobs are available, the more the competition is. Legal transcription is one field where there are plenty of jobs, and hence, for this reason, career opportunities are ever-increasing. Today, legal transcriptionists have become permanent fixtures in law firms, and are appreciated for their unique job profile. Well, salary figures underline this fact better than anything else.