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: