Dictation software for lawyers: the best options in Australia (2026)

Best dictation software for lawyers: the short answer

• You dictate long documents yourself and want legal vocabulary: Dragon Legal Anywhere (cloud) or Philips SpeechLive Speech Recognition Legal.
• Your secretary or typing pool works from your audio: BigHand Dictation and Speech Recognition, or Philips SpeechLive with a Pro or Enterprise workflow.
• You only dictate the odd email or short letter: Dictate in Microsoft Word, Windows voice typing or Apple dictation. All three are already on your devices.
• You want a record of a whole conversation, not your own words: that is transcription software (Otter and similar), and recording other people raises consent rules.
• You mainly dictate attendance notes after client calls and meetings: a tool that turns a short spoken recap into a structured note in your firm's format may save more time than classic dictation. That is what CallNote does.

Legal dictation software compared

Sources: Dragon Legal Anywhere (Australia), Dragon Professional v16 (Australia), BigHand dictation, Philips SpeechLive legal pricing (Australia), Dictate in Word, Windows voice typing and Otter pricing. SpeechLive's Australian pricing page shows dollar amounts excluding GST without naming the currency. Otter's pricing page says its prices are in US dollars.

Where CallNote fits, and where it does not

Classic dictation turns your words into typed words. If you dictate a letter, you get the letter as you spoke it. That is the right tool for letters, advice, affidavits and anything else you compose out loud.

Attendance notes are different. Most lawyers do not want a word-for-word record of their own rambling recap. They want a note with the right headings: who attended, what the client instructed, what advice was given, and what happens next. CallNote is built for that one job. After a client meeting you press record in your browser, talk through what happened for a minute or two, and stop. CallNote transcribes your recap, shows you the text, and writes the note in your firm's own format. It records only you, never the client, and it does not keep the audio.

For phone calls you may not need to dictate at all. If your firm uses Aircall, Dialpad or Microsoft Teams with transcription switched on, CallNote can receive the transcript the system already made and draft the note from that. You can try the output first with the free attendance note generator, or see real CallNote attendance note examples.

Where it is not the right tool: CallNote does not dictate letters, emails or court documents, does not type into Word, and has no time recording or billing features. If those are what you need, pick one of the dictation tools above.

Dragon Legal dictation software: what is still sold in Australia

Dragon is the name most lawyers know. Nuance, which makes it, is now part of Microsoft, and its Australian site still promotes Dragon for legal professionals. As at October 2026 the Australian site lists:

• Dragon Legal Anywhere. A cloud-hosted version with a legal vocabulary, legal citation formatting, custom commands for standard clauses, and central administration. It runs on Microsoft Azure and supports Citrix and other virtual desktop set-ups, which matters if your firm runs a hosted desktop.
• Dragon Legal v16. The installed Windows version, listed on the Australian small business page. Its "Learn more" link on the Australian site goes to Dragon Legal Anywhere, and we could not find a separate Australian Dragon Legal v16 page.
• Dragon Professional v16 and Dragon Professional Anywhere. The general business versions, without the legal vocabulary.
• Dragon Anywhere Mobile. The phone app. Its page on the Australian site says it is available on Android and iOS in the US and Canada, so do not count on it for an Australian iPhone without checking with Nuance.

None of the Australian Dragon pages shows a price. Each says to contact Nuance. The installed versions are Windows software, optimised for Windows 11 and compatible with Windows 10. If you work on a Mac, look at the alternatives below.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking alternatives for lawyers

Many firms bought Dragon NaturallySpeaking years ago and are now looking at what else is out there. These are the realistic replacements, from cheapest to most involved.

Dictate in Microsoft Word

If your firm pays for Microsoft 365, you already have it. Dictate works in Word on Windows, Mac, the web and mobile. You can speak punctuation commands such as "comma" and "question mark" and English (Australia) is on the supported language list. Microsoft's support page says the service does not store your audio data or transcribed text. It has no legal vocabulary training, so expect to correct party names, case names and Latin.

Windows voice typing

Press the Windows key and H together and talk into whatever box your cursor is in: an email, your practice management system, a web form. It is free in Windows 11 and needs an internet connection, because the speech recognition runs on Microsoft's Azure Speech services. Handy for short bursts, not for a twenty-page affidavit.

Philips SpeechLive

SpeechLive is the closest like-for-like replacement for a firm that still works the traditional way: the lawyer dictates, the assistant types. Basic covers the phone app and file upload. Pro adds the browser recorder and task assignment. Automatic transcription and speech recognition are an add-on, or come bundled in Speech Recognition Legal, which SpeechLive says is trained on legal terminology, lets you dictate at the cursor in any program, and can transcribe up to 10 speakers. The Legal AI Assistant goes further and turns audio into draft legal documents from system or custom templates. If your firm wants dictation and AI drafting of documents in one product, SpeechLive is a better fit than CallNote.

BigHand

BigHand is built around the workflow between lawyers and support staff. Lawyers dictate on desktop or phone, the file lands in a shared queue with a due date and priority, and everyone can see its status. Speech recognition can skip the typing step. BigHand has mobile apps for iPhone, iPad and Windows devices. Pricing is by request. It suits firms with enough support staff that tracking dictation jobs is a real problem, and BigHand also markets a set-up for small and mid-size firms.

Best iPhone dictation app for lawyers

On an iPhone you have four realistic choices in Australia:

1. Apple's built-in dictation. Tap the microphone on the keyboard and speak. Free and good enough for emails and short messages.
2. Microsoft Word on iPhone. Dictate is available on mobile for Microsoft 365 subscribers, so you can start a document on the train and finish it at your desk.
3. Philips SpeechLive app. Records dictation on iOS or Android and sends it into the SpeechLive workflow for your assistant or for speech recognition.
4. BigHand mobile app. The same idea for BigHand firms: dictate away from the office and the file joins the support team's queue.

Dragon Anywhere Mobile is the one many people search for, but its page says it is available in the US and Canada. Check with Nuance before you plan around it.

Dictation software vs transcription software for lawyers

The two get mixed up in search results, but they solve different problems.

• Dictation captures your own voice and turns it into text, live or from an audio file. You are the only speaker. Dragon, Word Dictate, Windows voice typing and SpeechLive's speech recognition are dictation tools.
• Transcription turns a recording of a conversation between several people into text. Otter is a transcription tool. SpeechLive can also transcribe recordings with up to 10 speakers. Dragon v16 can transcribe a recording too, but Nuance says it handles a single speaker, such as your own dictation on a handheld recorder.

The difference matters in Australia because recording other people is regulated. Dictating your own words raises no consent question. Recording a private conversation with a client does, and the rules differ by state. In New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT you generally need the consent of all parties. In Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory a party may record, but sharing the recording is restricted. See the state-by-state guide to recording law or check a specific call with the free can I record this call? tool.

What dictation software does not do

Nuance says Dragon lets you dictate three times faster than typing. That may be true for the words. It is not the whole job.

• You get a typed version of what you said. If you said it out of order, it comes out out of order. Someone, the lawyer or a secretary, still formats it, adds headings, fixes names and puts it into the firm's precedent.
• Names and terms need checking. Even legal-trained engines miss unusual surnames, street names and foreign words. Proofread anything that goes to a client or a court.
• It does not structure an attendance note. Dictating "Met Sarah, she wants to sell the unit, told her about capital gains tax, she will send the strata report" gives you that sentence, typed. It does not give you a note with Attendees, Instructions, Advice and Next steps.
• It does not file anything. The text sits in Word or the dictation app until someone saves it to the matter.

For letters and documents, that is fine: you were going to edit them anyway. For the daily grind of file notes, it is why many dictated notes still end up as a half-formatted paragraph at the bottom of the matter.

Dictating attendance notes: a quicker route

If attendance notes are most of what you dictate, here is how it works in CallNote.

1. Set up your format once. Paste one of your own past attendance notes. CallNote builds a template with your headings, order and shorthand in about 20 seconds, and keeps nothing about the client. Or start from the General Call Note or Chronological Call Note templates.
2. After the meeting, dictate a recap. Press "Dictate a voice memo instead" in your browser and talk it through. A memo can run to about 20 minutes, but a couple of minutes is usually plenty.
3. Check the text, then generate. CallNote shows you the transcript of your memo. You can fix a name before it writes the note.
4. Review the note. It comes back under your headings. Edit anything, then publish it. Publishing seals the note with a SHA-256 checksum and locks it. Later changes go in as dated amendments, with a full audit log.
5. Send it where it lives. Publish to Clio (on the linked Clio contact), HubSpot or Microsoft Dynamics 365, or copy it or export a PDF. CallNote has no connection to LEAP, Smokeball or Actionstep, so for those firms the route is copy and paste or PDF.

For phone calls, if your firm already uses Aircall or Dialpad with transcription, or Microsoft Teams with transcription on, the transcript can arrive in CallNote automatically and you skip the dictation step. For Zoom, Google Meet or any other source, paste the transcript or upload a .txt, .vtt or .srt file. More on the structure of a good note in how to write a legal attendance note, and how notes fit alongside your practice management system in the best attendance note software for law firms.

How to choose dictation software for your firm

1. List what you actually dictate in a normal week. Letters and advice, court documents, emails, or file notes. The answer usually picks the category for you.
2. Try the free option first. Spend a week with Word Dictate or Windows voice typing. If the corrections are bearable, you may not need to pay for anything.
3. Check who types. If a secretary works from your audio, you need a workflow product (BigHand or SpeechLive), not just speech recognition.
4. Ask where the audio goes. For client material, ask each vendor where audio and text are processed and stored, and for how long. Rule 9 of the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules still applies to everything you dictate.
5. Test on your own words. Dictate a real paragraph with client names, suburbs and legal terms, and count the corrections.
6. Check your platform. Dragon's installed versions are Windows software. If you are on a Mac, start with Word Dictate, Apple dictation or SpeechLive's browser recorder.

If you want to put a number on the time spent writing notes, the billable time recovered calculator does the sums. For the wider picture of AI in small practices, see AI note takers for law firms in Australia and the law firm overview.

Common questions