What is legal dictation?

Legal dictation is the passage that a shorthand or steno candidate takes down while an examiner reads it aloud at a fixed speed. The candidate then types a transcript within a set time, and the transcript is marked against the number of words dictated. In the Supreme Court of India's 2024 advertisement, the English shorthand test for Court Master (Shorthand) runs at 120 words per minute, with 45 minutes to transcribe ^{1 2}.

The official notices we read do not use the phrase "legal dictation". They set the speed and the transcription time, and some also set a mistake limit, but they do not describe the passage. So the definition here rests on how the test works. For the full set of rules, see the guide to legal dictation for shorthand and steno exams.

Legal dictation is a timed passage, written in shorthand and then typed

Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases the speed and brevity of writing compared with longhand ³. In a legal dictation test, the examiner reads the passage at one fixed speed, and the candidate writes it in shorthand as it is read. The speed is the test, so the candidate has to keep pace with the reader.

After the reading, the candidate transcribes. Usually this is done on a computer, and the transcript is checked for mistakes. The transcription time is set separately from the reading, so the reading itself is not the end of the test.

The shorthand itself can be written in two ways. Pen shorthand uses symbols on paper. A stenotype is a specialized chorded keyboard used by stenographers ⁴. The notices we read do not say which method a candidate must use.

The Supreme Court's 2024 notice sets its shorthand test in English

The Supreme Court's advertisement asks candidates for "Proficiency in Shorthand (English) with a speed of 120 w.p.m." for Court Master (Shorthand) ⁵. The same notice sets the English test for the Personal Assistant post at 100 words per minute ⁶.

The Court Master post also asks for a law degree from a recognized university in India ⁷. That is the one fact in the notice that links the post to law. It does not say the dictated passage is legal text.

If your exam uses Hindi, the test is set in its own notice, and the English figures do not carry over. The question on legal dictation in Hindi covers that case.

Why "legal" matters: legal writing is dense

The notices do not explain the word "legal", but research on legal writing shows that the writing is complex. Ryan Whalen's 2015 readability study of U.S. Supreme Court opinions found that legal writing at the Court "has become more complex and difficult to read in recent decades" ⁸. That study covers U.S. opinions, not Indian judgments, so treat it as evidence about the style of legal writing, not as a measure of an Indian exam.

Legal writing also brings its own vocabulary, including Latin terms. We did not find a study that measures how hard legal dictation is for a human candidate, so this page does not rank it against other dictation.

It depends on the post, the notice and the year

The speed is set per post. The Supreme Court's three posts in the 2024 advertisement run at different speeds, so the same notice can set different tests. The figures apply to the one recruitment cycle each notice covers, so an older or newer notice may set different figures.

Other notices we checked set a speed too, but with different figures. The legal dictation speed page compares them.

What to do

1. Find the notice for your post. Use the scheme of examination table, not the summary line, because the notices we read put the speed and transcription time there.
2. Note the language and the speed. Write them down as the test defines them.
3. Work out the mistake budget. Multiply the notice's limit by the number of words dictated, and use the passage length the notice gives.
4. Practice with timed audio at your post's speed, using the method in our guide to practicing legal dictation.

For the wider set of dictation and transcription tests, see our overview of dictation for work and study. For a comparison with the steno side of the field, see how fast stenographers type.