Advice and Questions Please

Hello. I was wondering if people who are successful doing legal transcription at home could tell me how I should get started. I have been in the legal business (certified paralegal) for about 25 years but have not worked in the profession for about a year now. I thought about medical transcription but that would mean learning a whole new "medical language" which I am unfamiliar with. I recall when I was working in the firms that there were always so many changes made to various pleadings. I was thinking that that would hinder anyone wanting to hire/contract me to do the work from home. Additionally, how would you market yourself to a firm to actually get involved with file sharing online etc.? Which online sites are best etc.? I know that there are a lot of questions here but I am sure there must be bunches and bunches of you who understand where I am coming from and where I want to go. Thank you very much for your advice.

Luanne in Portsmouth, Virginia said: Hello. I was wondering if people who are successful doing legal transcription at home could tell me how I should get started. I have been in the legal business (certified paralegal) for about 25 years but have not worked in the profession for about a year now. I thought about medical transcription but that would mean learning a whole new "medical language" which I am unfamiliar with. I recall when I was working in the firms that there were always so many changes made to various pleadings. I was thinking that that would hinder anyone wanting to hire/ contract me to do the work from home. Additionally, how would you market yourself to a firm to actually get involved with file sharing online etc.? Which online sites are best etc.? I know that there are a lot of questions here but I am sure there must be bunches and bunches of you who understand where I am coming from and where I want to go. Thank you very much for your advice.

I did this for years when my kids were little. It's very hard work and not much money but it's great if you want to be home. I worked for a federal subcontractor doing asylum hearing transcripts. They have subcontractor/transcribers all over the U.S. and mail or download audio/recordings (work) to you. Look up Free State Reporting, Inc., in Annapolis, Maryland online. You won't make a lot of money but it isn't a total rip off.

Thank you so much for the advice. Can you give me an idea of what "very hard work" and "not much money is?" Thanks.

The money is going to start at about $1.25 or perhaps even as low as $1.10, I don't know, for about 25 lines of text. The tapes are digital, which means the recording is okay/good, but playback is difficult, due to "clipping" and some distortion of sound. I made roughly $13.00 per hour as an experienced court transcriber. Some hours, $17.00, some hours as low as $5.00 per hour, if you had a bad judge who kept saying "transcriber, strike that paragraph" and lots of case citations, which slow you down, because you have to Google them if they don't give you chapter & verse. Again, if you have young kids & just want something so you can have your own money & tell your husband "well, I work" then great. If you have your own rent to pay by yourself, don't do it, you're better off in a law office -- unless your only option is mcdonald's, this would beat mcdonalds or some other establishment where they work you to hell for minimum wage. Cases themselves can be interesting. Think of it as selling Avon, perhaps more lucrative & interesting if you like transcribing or at least don't hate it.