One hour of recorded court proceedings generally produces about 45 transcript pages. The number moves with speaking pace, the number of speakers, and the type of proceeding, but 45 pages per audio hour is the standard planning figure, and it is the one our estimator uses.
Where the number comes from
Transcript pages are standardized: 25 numbered lines per page in most courts, set margins, fixed type size. People speak at relatively predictable rates in formal proceedings, and when you run typical courtroom speech through the standard page format, an hour of audio lands near 45 pages again and again.
Fast-talking colloquies and rapid cross-examination run above the average. Slow, deliberate proceedings with long pauses, interpreter passages, or frequent off-record intervals run below it. Your final invoice reflects actual pages produced; the 45-page figure is for estimating.
Using the figure to budget
Multiply your hearing length in hours by 45 to approximate pages, then by your per-page rate to approximate cost. A 20-minute hearing is roughly 15 pages. A three-hour evidentiary hearing is roughly 135. A five-day trial at six audio hours a day is roughly 1,350 pages, which is why trial transcripts are a budget line and not an afterthought. Our estimator on this site does the arithmetic instantly.