Notes and Documentation Best Practices for Legal – Verbit Support Center

When uploading a job file, providing as much relevant supporting documentation as you have is a crucial step in ensuring that you get the most accurate transcript possible.

Your court reporter is an invaluable resource to us as s/he is physically present during the proceedings. S/he is responsible not only for trying to get the best sound capture possible and facilitating best practices there, but also for taking detailed notes and asking questions, if necessary.

At Verbit, we want to partner with you to optimize the transcription process by using your quality input to produce excellent output.

Depending on the type of proceedings that is being recorded, there are different documents that will be available to you. Below, please find the list of documentation that is required or recommended for each proceeding type.

All Verbit transcribers are trained to research and confirm the spelling of every entity they encounter (i.e. names, businesses, addresses, medical jargon, etc.). Typically, court reporters will also ask to confirm spellings after a proceeding has finished. Attaching this information can reduce research times and the incidence of phonetic spellings.

NOTE: A sample image of each type of documentation is provided in the appendices.

Depositions

Document type	Mandatory/ Recommended	Importance
Notice of deposition (Appendix A)	Mandatory	This gives us confirmed name spellings for the plaintiff, defendant, and lawyer(s) as well as the case number, address of the deposition, and the general location in which the case takes place.
Court reporter’s worksheet/notes (Appendix B)	Mandatory	This is a secondary source for the plaintiff’s, defendant’s and lawyers’ names, case ID, and address. This also provides us with the number of exhibits marked as well as a spelling list which the reporter has confirmed with the deponent and/or lawyers.
TAG file/ log notes (Appendix C)	Mandatory	This is an automatic output generated by your recording software that includes the recording timestamp, the real time, the speaker, and either the first few words or the gist of what is being said. This is extremely helpful for speaker identification. Additionally, most reporters will log court events such as exhibit marking or off the record here as well which is helpful for our transcribers.

Motion Hearings

Document type	Mandatory/ Recommended	Importance
Notice of motion hearing (similar to Appendix A)	Mandatory	This gives us confirmed name spellings for the plaintiff, defendant, and lawyer(s) as well as the case number, and the date and time of the hearing.
Court Calendar (Appendix F)	Recommended	This provides any last-minute changes that may not be reflected in the notice.
TAG file/ log notes (Appendix C)	Recommended (Mandatory if more than 4 speakers)	This is an automatic output generated by your recording software that includes the recording timestamp, the real time, the speaker, and either the first few words or the gist of what is being said. This is extremely helpful for speaker identification.
Motion/brief (Appendix D)	Recommended	This is helpful in cases where lawyers will read or quote directly from the document. It may also contain relevant cites.

Trials

Document type	Mandatory/ Recommended	Importance
Docket (Appendix E)	Mandatory	This information gives us confirmed name spellings for all parties and their attorneys, the charges brought, and a comprehensive history of what has happened in the case at each step.
Court Calendar (Appendix F)	Highly Recommended	If there are multiple cases being called in a file, this provides the case name and number, the parties’ names, the charge, the plea, and the name of people that may be present at the hearing. Additionally, last minute changes in scheduling or the people present are also written in and this can be particularly useful.
Court reporter’s worksheet/notes (Appendix B)	Mandatory	This is a secondary source for the plaintiff’s, defendant’s and lawyers’ names, case ID, and . This also provides us with the number of exhibits marked as well as a spelling list which the reporter has confirmed with the deponent and/or lawyers.
TAG file/ log notes (Appendix C)	Mandatory	This is an automatic output generated by your recording software that includes the recording timestamp, the real time, the speaker, and either the first few words or the gist of what is being said. This is extremely helpful for speaker identification. Additionally, most reporters will log court events such as exhibit marking or off the record here as well which is helpful for our transcribers.
Jury list (Appendix G)	Mandatory in cases of voir dire or empanelment	In a jury empanelment, this is essential. Otherwise, names will be marked phonetic due to the difficulty of confirming a name that has no other identifying information associated with it.