I’m really getting into the actual legal transcribing now. I’m learning the parts of transcripts and listening to depositions and hearings. So far it is interesting. It was a bit confusing at first because some of the transcripts don’t match up with the templates I am learning on, and that is because each client can have their own format they want used. It’s still easy to follow along to see if I am getting the conversation down correctly and switch back and forth between questions and discussion.
So when Amanda told me that I would certainly encounter some words and language that I would not be familiar with, I was not surprised. She told me that unless you had some prior experience in legal, perhaps as a paralegal, a legal secretary, a plaintiff, a defendant (haha, hilarious), I was sure to encounter many words in the legal realm that I wouldn’t recognize. Even if I had studied the legal terms, they all sound different when someone speaks them! At the very least, these legal terms (which are often rooted in Latin) will either sound like a word you’re familiar with, but be completely out of context with your understanding, or just be plain strange.
This is where she has repeatedly told me that, “Google is your friend.” It has been so far! Even if I search for something that I have clearly spelled wrong I am usually able to find the actual word I need. So it’s worth it to try to research on my own first to see just how good I am, lol.
Here are a few I’ve come across so far in my practice typing:
Sounds like: Lemony. As in lemons.
Context: (Judge) “Well, then that sounds like you’re moving in ‘lemony’.”
WHAT?!?!?! Did the attorney have a chunk of lemon pie from lunch on his tie? Did he spill a glass of lemonade on the table?
What it is: Limine. It’s a motion in limine. The motion in limine is defined as a motion filed by a party to a lawsuit which asks the court for an order or ruling limiting or preventing certain evidence from being presented by the other side at the trial of the case.
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Sounds like: Or a tennis. As in, “Tennis anyone?”
Context: (Attorney) “I’m going to go with that ‘or a tennis’ motion.”
WHAT?!?!?! I imagine perhaps he would just start wildly flailing his arms, using his imaginary racket in the middle of a hearing.
What it is: Ore tenus. It’s an ore tenus motion. It simply means that the attorney is going to make a motion orally as opposed to having filed a motion in advance.
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Sounds like: Inrem. As in, well, nothing I can think of at this moment.
What it is: It’s actually “in rem”. It’s a legal action towards property or a thing rather than against a person. I heard this one very recently while doing a property dispute job.
Which brings me back to “Google is your friend”. Honest to goodness, I did a search of each these by typing what I heard or some variation of it. I did a search for Motion in Lemony. I did a search for Oray Tennis. I did a search for Inrem. Because that’s what I heard on the audio.
There are a lot of practice transcripts in this section of the course so I have a lot of work to do!
Diary Week 1
Diary Week 2
Diary Week 3
Diary Week 4
Diary Week 5
