Job Role

Legal document coders can expect to have to read and transcribe specific document information and understand legal terminology and documentation and key information into a computer system so good reading and typing skills and accuracy are necessary. Sometimes only specific information is needed to be recorded from documents, other times the full text of all a document’s content. It can be tedious and tiring work, requiring you to sit for long periods of time while transcribing a document. If you are a fidgety person who likes to be on the move all the time, perhaps it is not for you.

Requirements

There are two kinds of document coders, medical and legal. This article focuses on the legal side. Many litigation support companies employ work at home coders. No degree is needed, just the ability to read and comprehend and transcribe documents that you see on a computer monitor and enter information from them into appropriate field on online forms so they can be stored in a database, so you have to have some typing skills as well, and a bit of computer savvy.
Training is either provided by the company you are working for or you can take a course on your own.

Educational Requirements

No degree is needed, and in fact no specific formal education at all is legally required to be a legal document coder. Again, just to know your way around a computer enough and to be able to accurately read documents and transcribe information from them and enter data into appropriate fields in forms to go into a database.

Salary

A legal document coder in El Paso, TX makes about $23K a year, Toledo, OH, $27K, Punxsutawney, PA, home of the groundhog, also $27K. In NYC, $34K. Los Angeles, $32K, Chicago, also $32K, Philadelphia, $37K and Washington, DC $39K. So there is a considerable variance between large and small markets, but you must take into consideration the difference in the cost of living.

Work Schedule

If you are working from home, obviously the hours can be flexible, and just think of the commuting time saved. It can be a great job for a stay at home spouse with an infant to look after. You may even try to make a deal with the company you are coding for to work extra long hours if you are cash strapped and need the extra money. Working from home has never been easier.

Getting Started

Talk to your guidance counselor if you are still in high school and think this might be a career for you. There are online based companies you can contact and apply for work as a legal document coder. Bring your resume up to date and write a one page cover letter and apply by email.