As originally advised in Notice to Counsel #127, the Government of BC recently announced a change in court transcript provider to Veritext Canada, effective October 1, 2024. Accordingly, all first-party transcripts must now be ordered via Veritext with this online order form. For Legal Aid BC contracts, there are specific fields on the order form to identify pre-authorized transcripts, and your LABC contract and authorization numbers, to ensure that Veritext knows to invoice LABC and not you.
For second-party transcripts, J.C. WordAssist Ltd. will provide copies of transcripts originally produced by them for up to 180 days from the original transcription date. After this period, counsel must seek second-party copies from the court registry. Verbatim Words West Ltd. is no longer providing second-party transcripts and those should also be sought from the registry. The registry will provide electronic copies of any transcripts originally produced after 2018 and paper copies for earlier transcripts.
Veritext also has new restrictions around which transcripts can be ordered at a daily or expedited rate:
Daily transcripts
Orders must be placed by the ordering party before 4 pm and will be available by 9 am on the next business day in any requested format. Daily transcripts are only available for proceedings two days or longer.
Expedited transcripts
Electronic transcripts will be available by the third business day after the date they were ordered. Paper copies, if ordered, will be available by the fifth business day. Expedited transcripts are available for:
- Proceedings three days (15 hours of digital audio recording) or fewer;
- Proceedings two days (10 hours of digital audio recording) or fewer where one or more persons have attended the proceeding remotely by video or audio conference; and
- For bail reviews, appeal release hearings, hearings for appointment of counsel under ss. 520, 521, 525 or 684 of the Criminal Code and hearings heard without notice.
Please note: All LABC authorization requirements apply. Full details regarding transcripts and related authorization can be found in the Disbursements Tariff.
LABC will continue to work directly with Veritext to minimize difficulties and disruptions to transcript requests for legal aid Lawyers. If you encounter any issues or have any questions around transcript requests, please email Lawyer Support or call 604-601-6155.
