Proofreading Method
Your name goes on the finished transcript, so your preferences are paramount. Please be sure to complete the preference questionnaire to help me tailor my corrections to your individual style.
I have been thoroughly trained in transcript proofreading based on Morson’s English Guide for Court Reporters, the works of Margie Wakeman Wells, and NCRA guidelines. As part of this training, I proofread 50 real transcripts totaling 3,120 pages and created my own checklist.
Suggested corrections are marked directly on the page with yellow highlighting and red and blue text. Only annotated pages will be returned unless you specify otherwise. A sample annotated page is available here.
The main categories and some examples of potential issues I look for in a transcript are listed below.
Punctuation
polite requests
elliptical questions
quotation marks used consistently per your preferences
colons and dashes used correctly with proper spacing and capitalization
semicolons only separating independent clauses
commas used for clarity and per your preferences
direct address
possessives and plurals
hyphenation of compounds
Abbreviations
researched to confirm capitalization and any punctuation
titles before and after names
A.M./P.M. or a.m./p.m.
LLC, Inc., Ltd.
i.e., e.g., etc.
ID’ing, OD’d
Capitalization
names of people, places, businesses, institutions, and organizations
academic degrees and classes
holidays, months, days, historical events
court, judge, bailiff, counsel, defendant, plaintiff
name brand vs. generic medications
city, county, state
exhibits
Numbers
digits vs. words used consistently
incomplete or indefinite numbers
dates and times are consistent and shortened correctly
percentages
measurements
dollar amounts
fractions and decimals
ordinals
Formatting
swearing-in with colloquy
paragraphs for changes of topic, speaker, or person being addressed
spacing and alignment are consistent
parentheticals have periods and are centered
titles of different parts of proceeding are correctly labeled
Q and A alternate correctly
speaker names
keep months and dates together in same line
keep titles and names together in same line
Cross-checks
info on cover matches notice
index has correct page numbers
exhibits listed in index are present in body and vice versa
attorneys shown in body are listed on appearances page
attorney and firm contact information
Word use
its vs. it’s
statute vs. status vs. statue
trial vs. trail
contact vs. contract
accept vs. except vs. expect
affect vs. effect
proceed vs. precede
prospective vs. perspective
one word vs. two words
missing words
swapped words
repeated words
Spelling
names
terminology
run transcript through 3 different spell-checks
Client Testimonials
Don’t take my word for it! Here’s what my clients say:
"Ashley always does a great job proofing for me. Her work is consistently returned on time, and her communications are very friendly. I’m actually changing some things based on her notes, like switching from ’email’ to ‘e-mail.’ I don’t take suggestions or corrections personally. I think it just makes me a better reporter!"
Lindy R.
Orlando, FL
“I am very pleased with everything and really appreciate Ashley’s help. I appreciate that she is ‘reading’ the files for the content rather than just skimming them. I get the sense that she truly is following the deposition (sometimes I can’t even do that!), and she often finds things I should change as if she had the audio file to listen to.”