Legal Transcription Services

Pricing depends on the language spoken in your recording.

If the audio or video is already 100% in English, we transcribe it directly into a written English transcript. This is transcription only. No translation is involved. It starts at $6 per audio minute.

If the recording contains any other language, in whole or in part, the work becomes transcription plus translation: we transcribe what was said in its original language and then render it into English. This runs $10 to $18 per audio minute. The rate within that range depends on the language, the quality of the audio, and how many words are spoken per minute, since the translation portion is what drives most of the cost.

Add-ons such as timestamps, speaker identification, and notarization are billed separately.

Yes. The minimum charge for any project is $90, which is equivalent to 15 minutes of audio at our $6 per minute transcription rate. Recordings shorter than 15 minutes are billed at the $90 minimum. Anything longer is billed at the applicable per-minute rate.

U.S. Language Services provides transcription and translation services in 35 languages:

• Arabic
• Bulgarian
• Catalan
• Chinese (Simplified & Traditional)
• Czech
• Danish
• Dari
• Dutch
• Farsi
• French
• Georgian
• German
• Greek
• Hebrew
• Hindi
• Hungarian
• Indonesian
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Norwegian
• Polish
• Portuguese (Brazil & Portugal)
• Romanian
• Russian
• Slovak
• Spanish (Spain and Latin America)
• Swedish
• Tagalog
• Turkish
• Ukrainian
• Vietnamese

We make it easy to send recordings of any size, with three options to fit how your files are stored:

1. Upload from your computer. Send your files directly through our intake form to our encrypted, U.S.-based server. Just drag and drop, or browse to select individual files or an entire folder.
2. Share a link or web address. If your recording already lives somewhere we can reach, paste a link and we’ll download it on our end. This works for public web addresses, S3 buckets, official government portals, and similar sources. You can send links to individual files or to entire folders.
3. Connect your cloud account. Link your Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive account and we’ll transfer your files cloud-to-cloud, with no intermediate download to your device. You authenticate once with your provider, select the files you want, and we handle the rest.

Whichever method you choose, there’s no practical size limit, so multi-gigabyte evidence sets and long recordings are no problem.

You receive your transcript as a PDF, with a signed Certificate of Accuracy.

Transcription only arrives as a clean English transcript of your English-language recording.

Transcription plus English translation arrives in the NAJIT-based format, with the source-language transcription and the English translation side by side, so any line can be checked against the original.

The columns reflect the options you selected:

• Line number is always included.
• Speaker identification adds a speaker column that labels each speaker and tracks them from start to finish. Without it, no speaker column appears.
• Timestamps add a time-code column placed throughout the transcript. Without it, no time-code column appears.
• Notarization, when requested, adds a separate notarized page alongside it.
• A Certificate of Accuracy is included on every job.

Download Full Sample (PDF)

Turnaround depends on the work requested. The length of the recording, the quality of the audio, and the language involved all affect how long a project takes.

As a guideline:

• Projects with less than one hour of content are typically ready in two to five business days.
• Projects with up to five hours of content take approximately eight business days.

These timelines are longer than what you will see from vendors who run recordings through software and return a transcript in minutes, and that difference is the point. This is a premium service built for legal work, where a transcript may become evidence.

Every recording is transcribed and reviewed by hand, and every translation is rendered and checked by a professional linguist.

When you send the file, we will confirm a delivery date before any work begins.

Expedited service is available when a deadline will not move.

Yes. We offer expedited transcription and translation services for over 25 languages, including Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese and German.

With expedited service, your order is given priority and you can expect the turnaround time to be reduced by 50%.

Expedited service includes a 50% surcharge.

If you need expedited service for a recording in another language, please inquire regarding availability. Because each project depends on the length of the recording, the quality of the audio, and the language, our staff will confirm whether we can meet your deadline and provide instructions on how to proceed.

Note: Standard terms apply for expedited service. Orders placed after 4 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time) will be processed on the following business day. Delivery dates exclude weekends & holidays.

Every recording is handled by experienced linguists with years of experience in legal transcription and translation. Many hold graduate degrees and professional credentials in fields such as law and linguistics.

They are assigned by language and region, so a Spanish interrogation is worked by someone who knows the dialect and the way people actually speak.

When a recording also needs translation, a second linguist checks the English against the source, so no single person’s work goes out unverified.

The result is an accurate, high-quality transcript prepared by named professionals.

No. We provide transcription and translation only. The certificate we issue describes the process and credentials behind the work, but the linguists (transcriber and translator) who sign the document do not appear in court, give testimony, sit for depositions, or otherwise participate in legal proceedings as part of our service, and sign no declaration or affidavit beyond that certificate. This is a condition of the service, and by placing an order you accept that no testimony or court appearance is included.

We’d encourage you to confirm your evidentiary needs up front before you proceed.

Each recording is assigned to a linguist with experience in legal and investigative work and with knowledge of the specific language and region, so dialect, slang, and the way people actually speak are captured accurately.

Every transcript is reviewed before it is delivered, and when a recording also needs translation, a second linguist checks the English against the source. No single person’s work goes out unverified.

It is the reason hundreds of law firms choose us for their legal translation services. We encourage you to take a look at any of the more than 700 reviews  we have received from satisfied clients.