STYLE SHEET

Edited Full Verbatim

Please transcribe full verbatim and clean up the transcript according to the following
10 dos and don'ts. Note that we transcribe witnesses differently than attorneys.
Basic Rule
Witnesses here includes witnesses, deponents, and their translators. Attorneys here
includes attorneys, court reporters, judges, notaries, videographers.

For all speakers:

1. Facts DO write what the speakers say, even if it's factually incorrect.

For all speakers:

2. Grammar DO write what the speaker say, even if they is grammatically incorrect.

For all speakers:

3. Mm-hmms and DON'T include mm-hmms and uh-uhs in the transcript. (Unless they're the only
Uh-uhs answer to a question.)

For all speakers:

DON'T write slang.
4. Slang
For example, 'cause, gonna, gotcha, kinda, yep, etc. should be changed to because,
going to, got you, kind of, yeah, etc.

5. Stutters For all speakers:

and Partial DON'T include st- st- stutters and incomp- partial words.
Words
For all speakers:
6. Uhs and Ums DON'T include uhs and ums.

For witnesses:
Please, you know, include, crutch, like, words.
7. Crutch Words
For attorneys:
DON'T, like, include, you know, crutch words.

For witnesses:
DO include -- well, please include all false starts.

8. False Starts For attorneys:

DON'T include false starts of two -- of three or fewer words.

Use double-dashes for the -- please punctuate false starts with double-dashes.

Feedback words are expressions like okay, all right, and the like that are said by a
listener to indicate they're following along with the speaker. Feedback words don't add
meaning.

9. Feedbac For witnesses:

k Words DO include their feedback words.

For attorneys:
DON'T include feedback words.
 For witnesses:
DO include all repeated words.

10. Use, use, use commas to separate single repeated words.

Repeated Use double-dashes if more -- if more than one -- more than one word is repeated.
Words
For attorneys:
DON'T include unintentionally repeated, repeated, repeated words.

Numbers

DO spell out single-digit numbers:

zero, one, second... ninth.

DO use numerals for numbers 10 and greater:

10, 11, 12... 47th... 153rd... etc.
Basic Rule
When a number would be written in numerals in the middle of a sentence, also use
numerals for that number at the beginning of a sentence.

DON'T use superscript for st, nd, rd, and th.

When there are both lower and higher numbers of the same kind in the immediate
context, please use all numerals for consistency (between 7 and 12 cups of coffee)

ALWAYS spell out:

Fractions (one-twelfth)
Inexact numbers (several thousand cups of coffee)

ALWAYS use numerals for:

Exceptions to Basic Addresses (6525 3rd Street)
Rule Dates (October 1st, 1940 | 10/1/1940 | 1 October 1940)
Decimals (99.6 percent | 0.7 meters)
Exhibit numbers (Exhibit 5)
Mathematical equations (50 times 2 divided by 4 minus 5 plus 10)
Money ($5 | 9 grand)
Phone numbers (123-867-5309)
Page, paragraph, line numbers (page 2, paragraph 3, line number 4)
Serial numbers (SN12456980)
Time (3 o'clock | 3:00 p.m. | 3:00 | 1500 hours)

Words

Please use standard American spelling as listed in the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Basic Rule
Legal jargon may be found in Black’s Law Dictionary.
Please use these LegalProofs-specific preferences:

Spelling
Preferences Use all right, NEVER alright.
Use etc., NEVER et cetera.
Use okay, NEVER ok, OK, or O.K.

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 Abbreviations are shortened forms of words. In most cases, abbreviations should NOT
be used.

INCORRECT: 123 St. NW, Springfield, OR, 97403

CORRECT: 123 Street Northwest, Springfield, Oregon 97403

Abbreviations EXCEPTIONS:
II, III, etc. (for the second, third, etc. of a name)
& when part of a business name
v. (NOT versus or vs.) in the name of court cases
Mr., Ms., Mrs., and Dr. (when used immediately in front of a name)

¡Note! Write Ms. and not Mrs. ONLY write Mrs. when the speaker clearly says Mrs.

Acronyms are words formed from the first initials of other words, which means you
can often read an acronym as a word. Acronyms should be transcribed in ALL CAPS
Acronyms
with no periods, such as: FBI, UPS, LLC, NASA

Please capitalize words used in place of a person's name, UNLESS pronouns or articles
precede the name.
I'm sorry, Counsel. I misinterpreted your question. The
plaintiff's counsel didn't ask the question well. Yes,
Your Honor, let me rephrase the question.

ONLY capitalize titles if they immediately precede a

Capitalization name. I am pleased to introduce Director Joe Norman. Joe
Norman is the director of our company.

DON'T use caps when referencing a job description.

Of course, he'll never be chief of police.
Have you spoken to the public defender, yet?

When a word is being spelled out, use a dash between each letter:

Spelling Words Out

Jim, J-I-M.
Francis, F as in foxtrot, R as in Romeo, A as in apple, N-C-I-S.
Please write words instead of symbols, except for $ (dollar), £ (pound), and € (euro).

Symbols
So write $5, £1,250, €50.
But write 12 percent, five degrees, four feet.
Punctuation
Please follow standard punctuation rules, unless contradicted by the style guide.
Basic Rule
LegalProofs follows the Chicago Manual of Style.
DON'T use the curly/smart apostrophes and quotation marks.
Apostrophes
and Quotation
Marks DO use the straight apostrophes and quotation marks.

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 Please use double-dashes in scenarios like this:

1. False starts
I went to the -- I think I went home.

2. Repeated words
Use commas when one word is being repeated.
Use double-dashes if more than one word is repeated.
Mr., Mr., Mr. Smith, I would appreciate it -- appreciate it if we can have coffee now.

Double-Dashes 3. Interruptions
A. I went to the, I think I went --
Q. Please give an exact time.
A. -- to the store around 7:30 PM. He yelled at me, "Put your hands up or I'll --"
Q. Okay.
A. "-- shoot you right here."

4. Inserting a sentence within a sentence.

I take my coffee -- I'm sure you've heard this before -- black like my heart.

¡Note! There should be a space on either side of the double-dash.

Use TWO SPACES after sentence-ending punctuation, as well as after speaker

Double Spaces
identifications.
In a list of three or more items with a single conjunction, use the Oxford comma before
the conjunction.
red, white, and blue
Serial Commas
If the list is joined by conjunctions, DON'T use commas.
red and white and blue
When a speaker dictates punctuation, please don't transcribe these words but use
the relevant punctuation marks.
Spoken Punctuation
Said "secretary slash transcriptionist"; transcribe secretary/transcriptionist. Said
"it's quote-unquote good coffee"; transcribe it's "good coffee."
DON'T use these types of punctuation:

Brackets [] and parentheses (), except for tags and parentheticals Bullet
points
Punctuation DON'Ts Curly/smart apostrophes and quotation marks
Italics
Ellipses ...
Em_dashes (—) or en_dashes (-)
Exclamation points! Underlines

Paragraphs
Please break up any long paragraphs and indent the beginning of the new paragraph
Basic Rule appropriately, whether colloquy or Q&A. Break paragraphs at logical points, but try not
to have them exceed 10 lines.

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 When an attorney says to "strike that," start a new line, with an indention to match the
previous line.

Strike That!
Q What job were -- strike that.
When you were involved with the committee, what job were you doing for them?
A Secretary.
Formats
Please use customary formats wherever applicable. Some common formats are listed
Basic Rule
below.
If an attorney cites a case, they may use the case name, followed by the publication
number, reporter abbreviation, and a page number.

Use the abbreviation "v." for "versus", as well as any appropriate abbreviations below.

United States = US Supreme

Court = S. Ct.
Federal = F., F.2d, F.3d
Federal Supplement = F.Supp, F.Supp.2d

Atlantic = A., A.2d, A.3d

Citations North Eastern = N.E., N.E.2d
North Western = N.W., N.W.2d
Pacific = P., P.2d, P.3d
South Eastern = S.E., S.E.2d
Southern = So., So.2d, So.3d

Said: "Judge, I'd like to reference a case very similar to ours. It's Unicorns versus
Narwhals at eight-thirteen southern second nine-fifty-six, and it's a Third DCA case."

Transcribe: "Judge, I'd like to reference a case very similar to ours. It's Unicorns v.
Narwhals at 813 So.2d 956, and it's a Third DCA case."

Spell out email and web addresses using the traditional formatting; however, remove
any hyperlinks by right-clicking and selecting "Remove Hyperlink."

Email and Web fred@unicornsarereal.com www.thisisnotarealurl.org

addresses http://www.imadethisup.com
My email is Shannon, S-H-A-N-N-O-N, at gimmecoffee dot com, G-I-M-M-E-C-OF-F-E-E
dot com.

If an attorney requests that personally identifying information be redacted, please use

X and dashes to indicate the redaction.
Redactions
My social security number is XXX-XX-1234.
Parentheticals and
Tags
Please follow the examples given in the template for the style you are working on. This
Basic Rule
guide lists some general rules.

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 Please include a by-line directly before the first Q&A section begins, whenever Q&A is
resumed after colloquy, and whenever coming back from being (Off the Record.). The
by-line indicates who it is that is doing the questioning.
By-Lines
The by-line should be left-aligned on a line by itself and follow the format: BY [MR./MS.
ATTORNEY LAST NAME]:

Exhibit Index (None marked.)

Parentheticals (Original exhibits included with original transcript.)
(Original exhibits retained by counsel for Defendant.)
(Original exhibits included, except Exhibit 14, Exhibit 15, and Exhibit 16, which were
Every exhibit (or lack retained by counsel for Plaintiff.)
thereof) should be
accounted for.
(Previously marked exhibits.)
(No verbal response.) - Use to mark when a speaker is asked a question and while it's
apparent they answered, they did not answer out loud.

(Off the record.) - Use to mark when they've gone off the record for whatever reason.
Parentheticals
(The reporter read back the last question.) - Use to mark if the reporter is asked to
Parentheticals are read back the last question.
"sentences." They sit
on a line by (The record was replayed.) - Use to mark if the reporter is asked to replay audio.
themselves, are
indented by TWO
(Videoconference connection lost with <person>.)
TABS, always start
with a capital letter,
and always end with a Place Exhibit parentheticals when the exhibit is marked, not where the exhibit is
period. originally discussed.
(Defendant's Exhibit 1 was marked for identification.) (Plaintiff's
Exhibit 1 was marked for identification.)

(Deposition concluded at hh:mm.)

Regular tags:

(indiscernible hh:mm:ss) - Clients don't like indiscernible tags. Only use if absolutely
necessary.

(phonetic) - Use to mark words whose spellings cannot be confirmed. Only use for the
Tags first appearance of the word in the transcript, immediately after the word and inside
punctuation.
Tags are "words." They
appear in the middle of (sic) - Use to mark something said that is factually inaccurate and not corrected by
sentences, always start someone on the record. Should only be used when what's said will make the transcript
with a lowercase letter, appear inaccurate, not for poor grammar. Only use for the first appearance of the word
and never end with in the transcript, immediately after the word and inside punctuation.
punctuation.
Miscellaneous tags:
(coughs), (sneezes), (sound effect), (phone rings), etc. Only use if the sound,
interruption, etc., are meaningful to the transcript. (For example, if the attorney
sneezes and the witness says, "Bless you," you would use the (sneezes) tag for the
attorney so that "Bless you" has context. If the attorney sneezed and they nor anyone
else commented on it, then no need to use the tag.)

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 Further Resources
Chicago Manual of Style (fee required)
https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/
Grammar Girl
https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl

Purdue University Online Writing Lab

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/index.html

Black's Law Dictionary

https://thelawdictionary.org/#ixzz3ILQKi600

List of Latin Legal Terms

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_legal_terms

Legal Terms and Definitions

https://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx

U.S. Courts Glossary of Legal Terms

https://www.uscourts.gov/glossary