VoicePrivate Legal
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On-device recognition
Advanced speech recognition runs entirely on your computer for complete privacy and control.
FOR LAWYERS, PARALEGALS AND LEGAL ASSISTANTS WHO DICTATE
Legal dictation software for your own Mac or PC, $247 a year.
Dragon Legal Anywhere lists at $780.
VoicePrivate Legal Edition types your letters, matter notes and time entries into Word, Outlook or Clio when you stop recording, with more than 12,000 legal terms and case citations written in standard form. The speech recognition runs on the computer in front of you, and your dictation audio stays there.
$247/year or $24.99/month · Mac and Windows · 30-day money-back guarantee
Dragon Legal Anywhere: $780 a year on a one year term, as listed at voiceautomated.com/dragon-legal-anywhere, checked 24 October 2026. Source and math below.
Your thoughts never need
a server.
Works offline
Dictate anywhere, anytime. No internet connection required.
Mac and Windows
One edition, one price, on either computer.
If you dictate letters, memos, matter notes or time entries, and you have used Dragon or priced it, give me six minutes.
I am going to show you what Dragon costs a lawyer today, with sources, then show you the software we make, and let you judge both. I will also tell you the one case where Dragon may cost you about the same, because you would find it anyway.
What Dragon costs a lawyer today
Nuance sells Dragon for legal work in two forms.
Dragon Legal Anywhere is the subscription, with recognition hosted in the cloud. The reseller voiceautomated.com lists it today at $65 a month, or $780 a year on a one year term.
One year, one lawyer
Dragon Legal Anywhere, annual subscription, one year term$780
VoicePrivate Legal Edition, one year$247
You keep, every year$533
Source: Dragon Legal Anywhere page, voiceautomated.com/dragon-legal-anywhere, checked 24 October 2026: "Dragon Legal Anywhere Monthly Subscription, 1 Year Term $65 Per Month" and "Dragon Legal Anywhere Annual Subscription, 1 Year Term $780 Per Year".
Dragon Legal v16 is the desktop program, sold as a one-time licence. Three resellers list it today between $749 and $799.99. When a new version comes out, the upgrade is sold separately: two resellers list the v15 to v16 upgrade at $399 and $399.99.
Sources, checked 24 October 2026: dragonshopus.com/shop.php, "Dragon Legal Individual v16 $749.00" and "Dragon Legal Individual v16, Upgrade $399.00"; nuancedragonsoftware.com/product/dragon-legal-v16, "Dragon Legal v16 $799.00"; www.voicetotextsolutions.com/collections/desktop-software, "Dragon Legal v16, Licensed Product $799.99" and "Dragon Legal Upgrade from 15 to 16 $399.99".
The honest comparison with the desktop version
If you work only on Windows and you are happy to buy a desktop licence and pay for upgrades, Dragon Legal v16 can cost about the same as three years of Legal Edition. Then the choice comes down to which one you like dictating with, and the 30 days described below are the way to find out.
If you work on a Mac, the choice is simpler. Nuance lists Dragon Legal v16 for Windows 11 and Windows 10. Legal Edition runs natively on your Mac and on your Windows PC, at one price.
Source: Nuance, dragon.nuance.com/en-us/dragon-legal, checked 24 October 2026: "Dragon Legal v16 is optimized for Windows 11 and backwards-compatible to Windows 10."
Using VoicePrivate Legal Edition in Word, Outlook, and Clio
VoicePrivate Legal Edition is legal dictation software that runs on your own Mac or Windows PC.
You click into the document. You press one shortcut. You speak, and you press the shortcut again. The text is typed into whatever window you were working in: a Word draft, an Outlook reply, a Clio or MyCase time entry, a PracticePanther note, a PDF form field.
The speech recognition happens on the computer in front of you. Your dictation audio stays on that computer, which is what you want from speech to text for confidential legal work. And because the legal dictionary and the speech engine sit on your own disk, dictation keeps working on a plane or in a courthouse with no signal.
The 30-second video at the top of this page shows it. Here is where your voice goes.
WHERE YOUR VOICE GOES
Your voice goes to your own computer.
That is the whole path.
Privacy controls can change what a cloud service keeps. VoicePrivate changes where speech recognition happens.
Cloud dictationA remote recognition service
Your voiceVendor’s serversYour text
Audio leaves your device
VoicePrivateOn-device recognition
YOUR COMPUTER
Your voiceLocal AIYour text
✓ No audio uploaded to us
Dictation stays local. Text entered into another app follows that app’s storage policies. Licensing, downloads, and updates may use the internet.Read the privacy policy ↗
EVERYTHING YOU GET
What comes with Legal Edition
Here is the full list. Everything below ships in the app today, on Mac and Windows unless it says otherwise.
Legal terms and citations, written right
- More than 12,000 legal terms, built in. Certiorari, voir dire, in limine and promissory estoppel arrive spelled right, and you can add your own words on top.
- Citations in standard form. Dictate "a motion under Rule twelve b six comma citing Daubert versus Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals five oh nine U S five seventy nine nineteen ninety three" and you get: a motion under Rule 12(b)(6), citing Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579 (1993). Statutes such as 42 U.S.C. § 1983 work the same way. You can switch it off in Settings.
- Legal words the engine tends to mishear, fixed. "Defense council" becomes defense counsel, "barred by latches" becomes barred by laches, and "tortuous interference" becomes tortious interference. "City council" stays city council.
- Legal text shortcuts. Type or say /depo, /motion, /appear, /billentry or /datenote and the full block goes in. Add your own signature blocks and standard objections.
- Templates for a Deposition Summary and a Client Intake, section by section. If you are a litigator, see how the template and the citation formats work together in dictating motions, briefs and deposition summaries. Employment lawyers use Client Intake for a new charge or demand; see dictation software for employment lawyers, and corporate lawyers dictate board minutes with the Meeting Notes template in business dictation software for corporate lawyers. Patent attorneys and agents dictate specifications and Office action reports with patent dictation software. Workers' comp lawyers use Client Intake for a new injury claim; see workers' compensation dictation and transcription. Tax lawyers open a notice of deficiency matter with Client Intake and dictate the Tax Court petition; see tax law dictation software for Tax Court petitions and IRS letters. Entertainment lawyers use Client Intake for an unlicensed song or a talent dispute; see entertainment law dictation for deal memos and music licensing. Environmental lawyers use Client Intake for a new Superfund cost recovery matter; see dictation software for environmental lawyers. Every other practice is in legal dictation by practice area.
- Corrections by voice. Say "wait no" to fix a phrase as you go, "scratch that" to remove your last dictation, and "spell M E R R E L L" for a name.
Bring your Dragon vocabulary, and the terms in your case files
- Bring your Dragon word list. One Import button reads a Dragon word list (text or XML), a plain list, a CSV, an Excel workbook or a VoicePrivate export. You review every term before it is added, and the terms you already have stay as they are.
- Terms from your case files. Point it at pleadings, letters and PDFs, scanned pages included, and it finds the names, case names, acronyms and unusual words to add. The reading happens on your computer.
- A vocabulary set for each matter. Put the party, witness, counsel and judge names for "Smith v. Jones" in one set and switch it on while you work on that matter.
- Voice commands you make yourself. Pick a phrase such as "sign off" and choose what it does: insert your closing, press Tab or Return, wait a moment, or insert a text shortcut, in that order.
- It learns your corrections. Fix a word with Edit & teach and click Apply & Learn. A word you have corrected three times joins your Personal Dictionary.
Recordings, records and the rest
- Transcribe your recorder. Import an MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, OGG or AAC file (and .wma on Windows) from a handheld recorder or a phone voice memo, and it is transcribed on your computer. A .dss or .ds2 file needs converting first, and the Help Center shows how.
- An audit log. Each transcription is recorded in a log chained with SHA-256 checksums, so edits to past entries are detectable. Export it as JSON for an internal review.
- Works with the network off. Transcription needs no connection. Licence checks, downloads and updates use the internet.
- A Help Center written for Legal, with step by step guides, a Switching from Dragon Legal guide and short help videos inside the app. The guides work offline.
- Mac and Windows at one price. macOS 13 or later. Windows 10 version 1903 or later, or Windows 11.
- Team plans for 2 to 20 seats, with a dashboard that shows every licence in the firm and lets you move a seat when someone leaves. More than 20 seats? Contact us.
One thing to know before you buy. Legal Edition is dictation: it types the words you speak. It does not route recordings to a typing pool, produce certified transcripts, or draft arguments for you. Every citation in the draft is one you dictated, and you check it the way you check any draft.
THE REASON WHY
Why it costs so much less
We do not pay for speech servers in the cloud. The recognition runs on your own Mac or PC, so there are no servers to run for your dictation, and we pass that saving on to you. That is how Legal Edition costs $247 a year, against $780 for Dragon Legal Anywhere at the reseller price above: $533 a year that stays with you.
What you pay
Legal Edition is $247 a year, or $24.99 a month. The price is the same on Mac and Windows. Dictation is unlimited, and VoicePrivate does not charge per minute or per page. Pricing details for Legal Edition.
For a firm, Team plans cover 2 to 20 seats at $222 per seat per year, billed at purchase. The seats float: when someone leaves, you release their seat and give it to the next person. More than 20 seats? Contact us.
One year, a lawyer and two staff
Dragon Legal Anywhere, three annual subscriptions at $780$2,340
Legal Team, three seats at $222$666
The firm keeps, every year$1,674
Dragon Legal Anywhere figure from voiceautomated.com/dragon-legal-anywhere, checked 24 October 2026. VoicePrivate prices from voiceprivate.com/legal/pricing.
HOW TO START
Here is exactly what to do
- In the box below, choose annual ($247 a year) or monthly ($24.99 a month), or the Team row for 2 to 20 seats, and pay by card. More than 20 seats? Contact us.
- Open the email we send you. Your licence key and the download links for Mac and Windows are in it.
- Install on your Mac (macOS 13 or later) or your PC (Windows 10 version 1903 or later, or Windows 11), and allow the microphone.
- If you have a Dragon word list, open the Personal Dictionary and click Import.
- Click into a document, press Command+Shift+Space on a Mac or Ctrl+Shift+Space on Windows, speak, and press the shortcut again. Read the text where it lands.
YOUR 30 DAYS
Use it on a month of real work, then decide
There is no free trial. Here is what we do instead, and I think it is better for you.
Buy an individual monthly or annual plan. Install it. Dictate your real letters, matter notes and time entries for 30 days, with your own clients' names and your own practice area's words.
If Legal Edition has not earned its place on your computer, email [email protected] within 30 days of your first payment. We refund that payment in full. You do not need to give a reason.
The terms, in plain words: the guarantee covers the first payment of a new individual subscription, once per customer. Renewals and Team plans are not covered. When we refund, we cancel the subscription and the licence key stops working. The full policy is on the refund page.
BEFORE YOU BUY
Four quick answers.
- When am I charged?
- Today, at checkout. Annual plans renew each year and monthly plans each month, until you cancel.
- Do I need a card?
- Yes. You pay by card through Stripe. There is no free trial; the 30-day money-back guarantee takes its place.
- Does my dictation audio leave my computer?
- No. Speech recognition runs on your Mac or PC, and VoicePrivate does not upload your dictation audio or transcript text to its servers.
- What if it is not right for me?
- Email [email protected] within 30 days of your first payment for a full refund. The guarantee covers individual plans, once per customer, so a practice or firm can try one plan first and then add Team seats.
VoicePrivate Legal$247/year
$247 billed today, then yearly. 30-day money-back guarantee.
$247$24.99Unlimited on-device dictation
Mac and Windows
Legal citations in standard form
Voice commands you make yourself
Personal dictionary, matter vocabulary sets and text shortcuts
Import your vocabulary from Dragon, Excel or CSV
Help Center with videos
Billed today. 30-day money-back guarantee.
Team, 2 to 20 seats$222 per seat per year, billed todayTry it first: start with one individual plan, covered by the 30-day refund, then add your team. More than 20 seats? Contact us.
If your Dragon subscription renews soon, or your firm is pricing its next upgrade, compare before you sign.
P.S. Legal Edition is $247 a year on your own Mac or PC, with more than 12,000 legal terms and citations written in standard form. That is $533 a year less than Dragon Legal Anywhere at the reseller price above. Got a drawer of recorder files? Import them and they are transcribed on your computer. Dictate a month of real work. If it has not earned its place, email us within 30 days of your first payment and you get that payment back.
The details behind the letter above: answers to common questions and related guides.
QUESTIONS
Legal dictation software, answered
What is the best dictation app for lawyers?
VoicePrivate Legal Edition is the best fit for lawyers who want legal vocabulary, Mac and Windows support, and no cloud processing in one dictation app. It processes speech on the device, includes 12,000+ legal terms and citation formats, works offline, and costs $24.99 per month or $247 per year. It is not the best fit for a firm that needs to route recordings to a typing pool or produce certified transcripts.
What is legal dictation software?
Legal dictation software turns a lawyer's speech into text inside Word, Outlook, a practice-management app, or any document, using a vocabulary built for legal terms. VoicePrivate Legal Edition is legal dictation software that runs speech recognition on the lawyer's own Mac or Windows PC, includes 12,000+ legal terms, works offline, and costs $24.99 per month or $247 per year.
What software do legal transcriptionists use?
Legal transcriptionists and legal secretaries usually work inside a digital dictation workflow system such as BigHand or Philips SpeechExec, which routes the attorney's recording to them, and they type or correct the draft in Microsoft Word. VoicePrivate Legal Edition fits a different step: it imports a recording (MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, OGG, or AAC, and .wma on Windows) and transcribes it on the device, so the transcriptionist edits a draft instead of typing from audio. VoicePrivate does not route jobs between people.
Is there a legal version of ChatGPT?
Yes. CoCounsel Legal from Thomson Reuters, Lexis+ with Protégé from LexisNexis, and Harvey are generative AI assistants built for legal research and drafting. They are not dictation software. VoicePrivate Legal Edition does not write arguments or look up case law. It types the words the lawyer speaks, so every citation in the draft is one the lawyer dictated and still needs to check.
What software do most law firms use?
No public dataset establishes one dictation app used by most law firms. Legal teams choose among built-in operating-system dictation, dedicated legal speech recognition, enterprise workflow systems, and transcription services. VoicePrivate Legal Edition is a dedicated legal dictation app for Mac and Windows that types into Word, Outlook, Clio, MyCase, PDF fields, and other active applications without a per-app plugin.