The Current and Future Trends of Legal Transcriptions

For legal professionals, being adequately prepared is essential if they hope to emerge triumphant in their court cases. As such, they study everything they can about their cases to avoid missing out on any important details. One tool that can greatly assist attorneys in case preparation is legal transcriptions.

The use of transcripts is widespread within the legal industry. In fact, according to Future Market Insights Inc., the CAGR for the legal transcription market is expected to grow to 6.50% within the next ten years. With this in mind, it’s unsurprising that the market is currently experiencing some new trends and can expect more in the future.

But what are these trends that professionals in the transcription and legal industries are currently experiencing? What are the trends that they can expect in the near future? Here are the current and future trends in legal transcription.

Cloud-Based Transcription Services

Whenever cloud-based services are discussed, some think they are merely used for storing digital data and documents. After all, file sharing and storage are some of the things cloud-based services are commonly known for. However, cloud-based transcription is a trend that’s currently enjoying popularity in the transcription industry.

With cloud-based transcription services, legal transcripts can be produced more quickly and efficiently. Not only is it available 24/7, which allows attorneys to submit audio files no matter the time of day, but it also gives multiple authorized parties access to the files. As a result, it greatly increases collaboration between transcriptionists and simplifies the transcribing and review process.

Since this trend allows legal transcripts to be produced faster, lawyers can have all the information they need immediately. Therefore, they can spend more time on case preparation and ensure they have all the facts they need before the court proceedings.

Computer Aided Software

Another prevalent legal transcription trend is using computer-aided software to create said transcriptions in real time. With computer-aided software, court reporters can capture courtroom discussions and turn them into written text instantly. This rough draft can be displayed on monitors so everyone in the courtroom can view them.

In addition, these computer-aided transcription software includes features such as timestamps and even audio playback. As a result, they can create an unofficial but semi-accurate transcript at the end of each court session. This makes it one of the more useful technological advancements for the legal industry.

Increasing Reliance on AI

Reliance on AI is already prevalent in certain markets within the transcription industry. These include general transcriptions, market research, and even academics. One of the expected future trends in legal transcription is this reliance on AI. 

Similar to the aforementioned trends, AI-based legal transcripts can help legal professionals save a significant amount of time. Additionally, it can help law firms cut costs on ordering bulk transcriptions. This can make the use of AI-generated transcripts an attractive trend once it gains traction 

in this specific transcription market. 

However, while using AI to create legal transcriptions may seem like an enticing prospect, remember that it’s still possible for artificial intelligence to make mistakes. This can prevent attorneys from receiving highly accurate transcripts, which is crucial if they want to win their case.

Using AI-Generated Transcripts in the Legal Industry

With the popularity of artificial intelligence in the transcription industry, it’s understandable that some legal professionals think about following suit despite the drawbacks associated with their usage. To that end, before deciding whether or not to use AI-generated transcripts over human transcription services, it’s always best to consider the pros and cons first.

Pros of Using AI for Legal Transcriptions

• Scalability - One of the advantages of using AI to produce legal transcripts is its scalability. As AI can easily convert audio files to text, this makes them an attractive option for law firms or legal professionals who require large volumes of transcriptions in an instant.
• Cost-Effectiveness - Naturally, requesting legal transcripts from transcribing services will require payment from legal professionals. Depending on the volume of transcripts needed and its complexity, the rate could be higher than expected. AI could help legal professionals and law firms avoid these fees. This could make them more inclined to use AI instead of enlisting the services of legal transcriptionists.
• Speed - Speed is one of the main advantages of using AI to create legal transcripts. By using AI, the transcripts can be produced almost instantly. This advantage is useful for legal professionals who require a large volume of transcripts immediately.

Cons of Using AI for Legal Transcriptions

• Accuracy - According to Statista, AI transcription tools only have an accuracy rating of 86%. While this may seem like a passable rating, the legal industry requires greater accuracy. Especially since these legal transcriptions can be submitted as evidence, and any error can result in significant consequences. As such, this means that legal transcripts purely generated by AI are not ideal tools to use in court proceedings.
• Proper Speaker Identification - Another disadvantage of using AI to create legal transcripts is that it can struggle with proper speaker identification. Unlike humans, AI can find it difficult to distinguish between different voices. Therefore, they often fail to attribute certain statements to the correct speaker. This results in an inaccurate legal transcript. Additionally, AI can sometimes struggle with contextual understanding. As a result, it can fail to properly convert emotions and nonverbal cues into text for the transcript.
• Confidentiality - The final and most significant disadvantage of using AI for legal transcriptions is confidentiality. Remember, AI security systems aren’t perfect and are even susceptible to being breached. This means that any potentially sensitive information you upload into the AI software could be compromised even after a security breach.

With the disadvantages often associated with AI, it’s understandable if legal professionals opt to avoid using artificial intelligence completely. However, there’s actually no need to avoid AI completely when creating legal transcripts. Instead, professionals simply need to find the perfect balance between AI-generated and human-produced transcriptions.

One way this can be accomplished is by using AI transcripts as the framework for the transcript and then enlisting the aid of legal transcription services to polish the document. In doing so, they can ensure that the document is as accurate as can be even if AI software provided the framework for the document.

Technological trends that can help make the workflow process easier can be expected regardless of the industry. However, when discussing the transcription industry, the human touch still can’t be beaten. And if you plan to turn to transcription services to get your transcripts, don’t hesitate to turn to TranscriptionWing.

TranscriptionWing has over 20 years of experience in the transcription industry. With a team of expert transcriptionists to meet your needs, we can create high-quality transcripts for you, no matter the industry. Get started today and get in touch with our expert transcriptionists to obtain precise and accurate transcripts in as fast as four hours or the next day.