The $500 Legal Brief That Took 6 Hours to Fix

A junior associate at my firm spent an entire afternoon fixing dictation errors in a motion for summary judgment. Dragon Legal had transcribed "voir dire" as "war diary," "res judicata" as "rest Judi kata," and somehow turned "affirmative defense" into "a firm of defense."

The partner reviewing the draft wasn't amused. Six hours of associate time at 200 dollars per hour meant that dictation "time savings" actually cost the firm 1,200 dollars in unnecessary editing.

That incident started a firm-wide debate about whether legal dictation software actually saves money or just creates expensive problems.

Why Legal Dictation Is Genuinely Different

General dictation software assumes you're writing emails or casual content. Legal dictation assumes you're creating documents where a single wrong word can change legal meaning.

"Discrete" versus "discreet" matters when you're describing separate claims versus confidential information. "Statue" versus "statute" is the difference between a legal requirement and a sculpture. "Due process" versus "do process" is the difference between constitutional law and gibberish.

Legal terminology isn't just specialized vocabulary. It's Latin phrases, procedural terms, case law citations, and precise language where synonyms aren't acceptable.

This is why legal dictation software exists as a separate category. Generic dictation gets legal terminology wrong constantly. Fixing those errors takes longer than typing the document correctly the first time.

Dragon Legal: The Expensive Legacy Option

Dragon Legal (around 700 dollars) was the standard for legal dictation for years. It has legal vocabulary built in. Terms like "habeas corpus," "prima facie," "sui generis," and thousands of other legal phrases. It runs locally on your Windows computer, so confidential client information never leaves your machine.

I used Dragon Legal from 2016 to 2024. After two months of training and corrections, accuracy was 95-97 percent for legal documents.

But those two months of training were brutal. Dragon Legal kept making the same errors until I corrected them dozens of times. "Voir dire" was consistently wrong for weeks. Every Latin phrase required multiple corrections before Dragon learned it.

And it only works on Windows. Dragon Legal doesn't exist for Mac. When I switched to Mac in 2024, I had to find alternatives.

The Mac Problem for Legal Dictation

Dragon Legal doesn't exist for Mac. Dragon for Mac exists (300 dollars), but it's the standard consumer version without legal vocabulary or templates.

You can manually add legal terms to Dragon for Mac's vocabulary, but you're essentially building Dragon Legal yourself through hundreds of corrections. Some attorneys do this. It takes months.

For Mac-using attorneys, the legal dictation options are limited and none are great. They're compromises.

AI Dictation: Better Accuracy Without Training

Modern AI dictation handles legal terminology better than Dragon without requiring weeks of training.

Dictation Daddy (I have obvious bias, I built it) is available on Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android, and Chrome extension for under 100 dollars per year. The apps don't sync between devices, but AI-powered transcription handles legal terminology immediately without training.

The AI achieves 96-98 percent accuracy from day one. That's higher than Dragon Legal's maximum accuracy after months of training. The AI auto-corrects punctuation, handles false starts naturally, and adapts to technical terms immediately.

For firms needing SOC2 or HIPAA compliance for healthcare-related legal work, there's an enterprise plan with enhanced security features.

Philips SpeechLive (15-30 dollars per month) offers cloud transcription with optional human transcriptionists. The AI transcription is decent (85-90 percent accuracy) but not specialized for legal. The human transcription is accurate but expensive (1.50-3 dollars per audio minute) and slow.

The Client Confidentiality Question

This is where legal IT directors earn their salaries.

Dragon Legal processes audio locally on your Windows PC. Your client's confidential information never leaves your computer. This satisfies most state bar tech ethics requirements for protecting attorney-client privilege.

Cloud-based dictation services send your audio to remote servers for processing. That's potentially an ethics violation depending on your jurisdiction's rules about cloud services and client data.

Before using cloud dictation for legal work:

Read your state bar's tech ethics opinions on cloud services. Most states allow it with proper precautions, but requirements vary.

Verify the service will sign a Business Associate Agreement if you handle healthcare-related legal matters (HIPAA compliance).

Understand where the service's servers are located and what happens to your audio data.

Use cloud services for non-confidential work (internal memos, drafts, notes) and evaluate security requirements for client communications.

Your malpractice insurance carrier and your bar's ethics hotline can help clarify what's acceptable in your jurisdiction.

BigHand and Enterprise Solutions

BigHand is the enterprise legal dictation system at large firms. Cost is typically 3,000-4,000 dollars per attorney annually, but it includes full workflow automation, integration with case management systems, quality control with human transcriptionists, and IT support.

For 50-person or larger firms, BigHand makes sense. The workflow integration and support justify the cost. For 5-person firms, spending 20,000 dollars annually on dictation feels absurd.

The challenge is BigHand is optimized for the traditional law firm model with dedicated support staff. As firms shift to lean operations where attorneys do more of their own administrative work, BigHand's value proposition weakens.

When Legal Dictation Actually Saves Time

Legal dictation saves time when:

You're drafting long documents with predictable structure (complaints, discovery requests, appellate briefs). Dictating boilerplate is faster than typing.

You're documenting client meetings immediately after they end. Dictating notes while the conversation is fresh beats typing from memory later.

You have wrist or hand issues that make typing painful. Health trumps economics.

Legal dictation doesn't save time when:

You're drafting complex arguments that require careful word choice and editing. Speaking naturally produces conversational language, not tight legal writing.

You're working with citations, tables, and formatted content. Dictating citations is absurd.

You spend more time correcting errors than you saved by dictating.

Honest assessment: legal dictation works great for some attorneys, not at all for others. Trial it before committing money.

What I'd Recommend Based on Your Situation

Large firm with secretarial support: BigHand or similar enterprise solution. The cost is justified at scale with staff to manage the workflow.

Small firm on Windows: Consider AI dictation like Dictation Daddy first. Higher accuracy than Dragon, lower cost, no training required. Only buy Dragon Legal if you absolutely need offline local processing.

Small firm on Mac: AI dictation is your best option. Dragon Legal doesn't exist for Mac.

Solo practitioner: Try free options first (Google Docs Voice Typing, Apple Dictation). If accuracy isn't good enough, try affordable AI services (under 100 dollars per year). Only spend 3,000 dollars on enterprise systems if you're dictating extensively.

Already using Dragon Legal successfully: No urgent reason to switch unless you're changing platforms or frustrated with training requirements.

Last updated: January 13, 2026, verified with current BigHand, Dragon Legal, and Philips SpeechLive pricing