Proofreading a Civil Trial Transcript With Quoted Testimony and Style Inconsistencies

The quotation is a complete spoken sentence embedded in a larger sentence, so the comma belongs inside the closing quotation mark in standard American style: 'The patient stated, 'I feel dizzy,' and then vomited.' If the sentence were recast so the quotation stood alone, the period would go inside the closing quote: 'The patient stated, 'I feel dizzy.' Then the patient vomited.' The choice affects whether the quoted material is treated as a full sentence or as a segment integrated into the reporter's sentence. Because the original has 'and then vomited' as part of the same sentence, use the comma inside the quotation mark and keep the lower-case 'and.' Do not add a period after 'dizzy' and then capitalize 'And' unless you are deliberately breaking the sentence into two. If the transcript uses a house style that places commas outside quotation marks, follow that style consistently, but do not mix conventions.

Distinguish quoted testimony from the reporter's narrative. 'The witness testified that she had went to the emergency room' is a report of what the witness said. If it is within quotation marks or represents the witness's exact words, keep 'had went' and do not correct it to 'had gone'; the transcript preserves testimony, including grammatical errors. If the phrase is the reporter's own narrative summary, correct it to 'had gone.' For 'leading, argumentative and compound,' you may add the serial comma if your style manual requires it: 'leading, argumentative, and compound.' That is punctuation, not a change in meaning. The quoted 'I feel dizzy' passage may receive the comma inside the closing quotation mark. Do not change 'preponderance of the evidence' or 'proximate cause' to capitals; these are generic legal terms, not titles. Keep 'Theresa O'Shaughnessy, Esq.' as spelled, verifying the apostrophe and capitalization against counsel's appearance sheet.

For exhibits, adopt one consistent caption style throughout the exhibit list and the body of the transcript. If the exhibit itself is marked 'Plaintiff's Exhibit 12,' use that exact label, including capitalization, because it identifies a specific marked item. Do not change exhibit labels in quoted testimony, but standardize the reporter's own exhibit list and index entries. Add a style note to the word list so the same form is used in future volumes. For 'shall' and 'will' in narrative headings, do not treat them as interchangeable. 'Shall' traditionally imposes a legal duty or mandate; 'will' states future fact or expectation. In quoted jury instructions, preserve the judge's exact words. In the reporter's own headings, choose the verb that matches the meaning and apply it consistently. If the headings are merely procedural, such as 'The witness will be recalled,' use 'will.' If the heading states a court order, such as 'The defendant shall appear,' keep 'shall.' Record both decisions in the style sheet before the 5:00 p.m. filing.