Legal Transcription Basics - Probie Guide Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering the essential rules, formatting, and terminology for legal transcription as defined in the Legal Phoenix Basic Probie Version guide.

Colloquy

A standard paragraph style with speaker IDs used for conversational parts of official legal proceedings, such as party introductions and swearing-in processes.

Q&A

A formal legal style where the letters Q and A are used as speaker IDs, reserved for the examination of a witness by an attorney, judge, or investigator.

Non-germane Speech

Speech not relevant to the proceeding, such as mic testing, whispers between parties, or unrelated asides, which is generally not transcribed.

Inserts

Uniquely formatted parentheticals, examination headings, and by lines used to mark specific events in a proceeding, accessed via Shift + Space.

THE WITNESS

The speaker ID assigned to a person the moment they take the oath and remain under examination, regardless of their real name.

Direct Examination

The first round of questioning of a witness conducted by an attorney for one side.

Cross-Examination

The first round of questioning of a witness conducted by an attorney for the opposing side.

By line

A line of text required after an examination heading that identifies the questioning party, such as "BY MR. SMITH:".

Voir Dire

A French phrase meaning "to speak the truth," referring to the preliminary process of examining potential jurors or expert witnesses.

Venire

A term used to describe a prospective jury panel before final selection.

Sidebar

A private discussion held at the judge's bench where it cannot be heard by the witness or jury, marked with "(Sidebar discussion held.)" and "(Sidebar discussion concluded.)" inserts.

Exhibits Marked

A parenthetical insert used when an attorney introduces a document or item for identification, such as "(Exhibit $NUMBER$ was marked for identification.)".

Exhibits Admitted

A parenthetical insert used when a judge allows an exhibit to be entered into evidence, formatted as "(Exhibit $NUMBER$ was admitted into evidence.)".

Certified Question

A question that a lawyer specifically requests to be marked for easy future reference, indicated by the parenthetical "(A certified question was asked.)".

Record Readback

An event where the court reporter reads aloud a previous portion of the proceedings, marked in the transcript with "(Record was read back.)" without transcribing the repeated text.

No Response

A parenthetical insert used after a speaker ID when a question is asked and there is no audible answer or only a non-verbal gesture like a nod.

Zero through Ten Rule

The formatting rule to use words for numbers $0$ through $10$ and numerals for numbers greater than $10$, unless technical consistency or specific exceptions apply.

Redaction

The process of removing sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, names of minors, and birthdates, replacing them with placeholders like "$XXX-XX-XXXX$" or "$XX/XX/XXXX$".

False Start

When a speaker abruptly stops a train of thought and resumes or changes topics, indicated in the transcript by a double dash.

Uh-huh and Uh-uh

Nonverbal responses used only as a sole response to mean yes or no, respectively; they are omitted if the speaker provides further verbal response.

Crutch Words

Words like "like" or "you know" that are always included in the transcript when spoken.

[inaudible hh:mm:ss]

A bracketed tag used to mark speech that cannot be understood due to audio quality, noise, or accents, including a specific timestamp from the audio.

[phonetic]

A tag used after the first instance of a name when the correct spelling cannot be confirmed through research.

[sic]

A tag placed after a word that is clearly misused or incorrect to indicate it was transcribed exactly as spoken by the witness or attorney.

Bates number

A unique document identifier used in legal files where the word "number" is always lowercased, such as "Bates number $0000180$".