What format does a legal transcript follow?

A legal transcript follows the format set by the court or firm that orders it, and there is no single format for every court. The federal format is the most detailed published standard we could verify. It sets 25 lines of text per page ¹, a left margin of 1-3/4 inches ², about 63 characters per line ³ and double spacing ⁴.

The federal format fixes the page, which fixes the bill

Federal maximum rates are charged per original page ⁵, so the page is the unit of billing. Each page of transcription must contain 25 lines of text ¹, so the number of lines decides the number of pages, and the number of pages decides the fee. Our question on how much legal transcription pays shows the per-page rates these pages are billed at.

A transcript that breaks these rules changes its page count, and the page count changes the bill. Check the format before you send, not after.

The CET exam asks for a title, index and certification page

The AAERT Certified Electronic Transcriber practical examination asks for a transcript of about 10 to 20 pages in the federal format, with a title page, an index page and a certification page ⁶. That is an exam requirement, not a federal rule, and we did not verify whether the federal format itself requires these pages. If you are preparing for that exam, build the template with all three before you type the body.

Other courts and firms set their own rules

The federal rules do not apply to every court. State courts, county courts, agencies and law firms each set their own rules, and we did not verify the formats for courts in the UK, Canada, India or Australia for this page. For any transcript, get the rules from the court or the firm that orders it, before you start. Ask the clerk, the case team or the agency for their format order or style guide.

The style of the text is a separate choice from the layout. The order or the firm usually states the style. Ask before you choose one, because a verbatim record and a cleaned-up one are different documents.

What to do before you send a transcript

1. Get the written rules. Ask for the format order, style guide or template for this case. Do not rely on a general guide to the format.
2. Set up the template first. Set the margins, line spacing and line count, and add a title page, index page and certification page.
3. Check the line count. Count the lines on a sample page against the rule before you format the full document.
4. Check the names and the spelling. The format does not fix errors in the text, so check names, places and dates against the case file.
5. Practice on a known example. Express Scribe's free practice files pair each recording with a completed transcript ⁷, so you can compare your own output with a finished one. The practice is for typing, not for a court's rules, so use it only to build the habit.

Our question on whether legal transcription is still in demand explains why a checked transcript still matters as AI drafts spread. For the training that teaches these skills, see our question on how to become a legal transcriptionist. For the full picture of the job, read our guide to legal transcription, and for the wider field, the dictation for work overview.