Transcribe an immigration court hearing
Upload the DAR export from ECAS. We read the A-number and hearing date from it and listen for an interpreter, then ask you to confirm. You'll get a private link to follow the job; there's no account. The link opens only with a code we email you.
Limited test. No payment is taken, and we approve
each new customer by hand: your first order starts once we have, and we'll email you when it does.
Transcripts are machine-generated drafts for attorney review, not certified transcripts.
Security and your professional obligations
The ethics rules put the duty on you: to make reasonable efforts to keep client information confidential, and to vet the services that handle it. This section sets out what this service does with a recording, and which rules it is designed around, so you can make that assessment. It is not legal advice; your jurisdiction's version of the rules and its ethics opinions control.
How a recording is handled
- Encrypted in transit. Every connection is HTTPS. Your browser sends the recording straight to private storage over a signed link that expires after 15 minutes; it never passes through our web server.
- Encrypted at rest. Uploads, audio downloads, transcripts and job records are stored with Cloudflare (R2 and D1, eastern North America), which encrypts all stored data with AES-256. The storage is private: playback and downloads use signed links that expire. While a job is processing, its working files are also held on our processing provider's storage (Modal), and deleted at delivery.
- Private link plus an emailed code. Each order gets a link containing a 256-bit random token, and the link opens only with a 6-digit code emailed to the address the order was placed with (codes expire in 10 minutes and allow 5 tries; a device stays signed in to that order for 30 days). We store only hashes of the token and of each code, so our database alone cannot open a job. There is no password to reuse or leak.
- No third-party AI, no training. Transcription uses open speech-recognition models that we run ourselves on rented servers (Modal). The recording and transcript are not sent to any AI provider, and they are never used to train or tune any model. No language model rewrites your transcript.
- Short retention. The DAR files you upload, the processed audio, voice samples and the working draft are deleted when your transcript is delivered. The transcript and the audio downloads are deleted 7 days after delivery, or earlier if you delete them. Afterwards we keep only file fingerprints, the recording's length and dates: no audio, names or text.
- Abuse protection. A bot check (Cloudflare Turnstile) on the order form, limits per network on orders and code entry, and, during the test, each new customer approved by hand before anything is processed.
- Service providers. Cloudflare (the website's traffic, storage and job records), Modal (processing) and Resend (sending emails: your address and the code, nothing else). No one else receives the recording.
Not yet in place: an independent security audit such as SOC 2, a data processing agreement you can sign, and processing pinned to a single country.
The rules and opinions it is designed around
| Source | What it asks of you | How this service supports it |
|---|---|---|
| ABA Model Rule 1.6(c) and Comment [18] | "Reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to" client information, judged by the information's sensitivity, the risk, and the cost and difficulty of more safeguards. | Encryption in transit and at rest, private storage with expiring links, access only with the link and a code emailed to the order's address, and deletion at delivery and after 7 days. |
| ABA Model Rule 5.3, Comment [3] | When a service outside the firm stores client information, "reasonable efforts to ensure that the services are provided in a manner that is compatible with the lawyer's professional obligations," considering the provider and "the terms of any arrangements concerning the protection of client information." | This page: what is stored, where, by whom, for how long, and what is not yet in place. |
| ABA Model Rule 1.1, Comment [8] | Keep abreast of "the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology." | A plain account of how the tool works, and transcripts presented as machine-generated drafts, with each passage playable against the recording for checking. |
| ABA Formal Opinion 477R (2017) | Client information may travel over the internet with reasonable security measures, and highly sensitive information may call for special precautions. | Recordings never travel by email or through our web server; transfers use HTTPS and short-lived signed links. |
| ABA Formal Opinion 512 (2024) | Before using an AI tool, understand how it uses and protects client data, and review its output. | Models we run ourselves; nothing sent to an AI provider or used for training; output labelled as a draft for attorney review. |
| ABA Formal Opinion 08-451 (2008) | Outsourced support services must be supervised under Rules 5.1 and 5.3, and client consent should be obtained when the provider will receive Rule 1.6 information. | Consider telling your client that a transcription service will process the recording; this page describes the service you would be disclosing. |
| 8 C.F.R. § 1208.6(a) | Information in or pertaining to an asylum, withholding or CAT application "shall not be disclosed without the written consent of the applicant." The rule binds the government, but hearing recordings often contain exactly this information. | Recordings are treated as highly sensitive by default: shortest practical retention, no sharing beyond the two providers above, and nothing used for any other purpose. |
Many states have adopted these Model Rules with changes, and several have their own opinions on cloud services. Check your state bar's rules and opinions.