Dictation can help a paralegal get first drafts, call notes and chronology entries down faster, but it does not change who is responsible for the work. Under the ABA Model Rules, the supervising lawyer must make reasonable efforts to ensure your conduct fits the lawyer's professional obligations, and the firm decides which tools may touch client information. Start with the free Dictation built into your Mac, use it only for tasks your firm allows, and mark every dictated draft for review before it goes anywhere.
Publisher note: SuprFlow publishes this guide and is one of the products discussed. Competitor details come from each company's own pages, checked on 1 October 2026. Prices and features change; confirm before you buy.
What do the rules say about a paralegal using a new tool?
Three sources set the frame for US paralegals. None of them mentions dictation software by name, and none approves any product.
| Source | What it says | What it means for dictation |
|---|---|---|
| ABA Model Rule 5.3 | Partners must have "measures giving reasonable assurance" that a nonlawyer's conduct "is compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer"; a lawyer with direct supervisory authority must make reasonable efforts to the same end | Your supervising lawyer and firm, not you alone, decide whether a dictation tool is acceptable |
| ABA Model Rule 1.6 | A lawyer "shall make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of" information relating to the representation | Where audio and text travel is a confidentiality question, not a convenience one |
| ABA Formal Opinion 512 (29 July 2024) | Managerial lawyers "must establish clear policies regarding the law firm's permissible use of GAI", and nonlawyers should be trained, including on "secure data handling, privacy, and confidentiality" | If a dictation tool adds AI rewriting, it falls under the firm's AI policy too |
The NALA Code of Ethics adds the paralegal's side. Canon 3 says a paralegal may perform any task "properly delegated and supervised by an attorney" so long as the attorney "assumes professional responsibility for the work product". Canon 7 says a paralegal "must protect the confidences of a client". Canon 1 says a paralegal must not "give legal opinions or advice". State rules and your firm's own policy may go further, so read them, not just the model rules.
Which paralegal tasks suit dictation?
| Task | Good fit? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Internal file note after a client or witness call | Yes, with review | Speed matters while details are fresh; the note stays internal until checked |
| Chronology or timeline entries | Yes | Short, factual sentences; type the dates and document numbers |
| First draft of a cover letter or routine correspondence | Yes, for the lawyer to approve | Canon 3: the lawyer takes responsibility for the work product |
| Summaries of documents you are reading | Yes | Keep Bates numbers and exhibit references typed, not spoken |
| Anything that reads as legal advice to a client | No | Canon 1 bars paralegals from giving legal advice, whatever tool wrote it |
| Case citations and pin cites | Type them | Speech recognition mangles reporter abbreviations and numbers |
How should a paralegal dictate a file note?
A routine that keeps facts, sources and status visible:
- Open the right matter first. Click into the note field in your firm's case-management or document system before you speak. A dictation tool types into whatever has focus.
- Type the header. Matter number, date, who was on the call, and your name and title. Canon 5 asks paralegals to disclose their status; a header line does that inside the file too.
- Dictate what was said, in order. Use "the client said" and "I told the client" so the reader can tell speech from your own observations.
- Say the status line last. For example: "Draft file note by paralegal, not yet reviewed by attorney." Formal Opinion 512's footnotes suggest marking AI-produced material in client files so future readers understand its fallibility; marking a dictated draft does the same job.
- Check names, dates, amounts and every "not". Speech recognition errors are real words in the wrong place, so a spell checker will not catch "did" for "did not".
- Route it for review in whatever way your supervising lawyer expects.
To practise, use a made-up matter. Dictate: "Spoke with Dana Whitcombe on 14 March. She did not receive the second notice. The lease was signed on 2 February, not 12 February." Count the corrections you had to make.
Start with Apple Dictation
Every Mac has free Dictation. Apple's Mac User Guide for macOS 27 says to turn it on in System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation, then press the Microphone key, use the Dictation shortcut, or choose Edit → Start Dictation. Apple says you can speak to enter text "anywhere you can type it", that Dictation stops "when no speech is detected for 30 seconds", and that Keyboard settings show whether your general text dictation is "processed on your device and not sent to Siri servers". Check that line on your firm's Mac before you dictate client material. Full setup is in How to use voice to text on a Mac.
When is a dedicated app worth asking IT about?
If you dictate many short notes a day, party names keep coming out wrong, or you want a hold-to-talk key, a dedicated app may help. Ask IT first: most firms control what can be installed on their Macs.
SuprFlow is one example. It is a menu-bar app for Apple Silicon Macs on macOS 14 or later. Hold the Fn key, speak, release, and it pastes the text at the cursor in whichever app has focus. Speech recognition runs on the Mac with a downloaded model. Default formatting is local cleanup of punctuation, capitalization and numbers. An optional Cloud API mode sends transcript text, not audio, to a provider you configure, so a firm would need to decide whether that mode is allowed. A personal dictionary helps with party and place names, and local history keeps up to 100 recent transcriptions, which is another copy of client text to account for. It costs $125 once, with no free tier or trial; firms need separate terms, so contact SuprFlow.
Be clear about what it is not. SuprFlow is not certified for legal work, has no integration with case-management or document-management systems, and does not transcribe recorded calls or audio files. Your firm's policy decides whether it, Apple Dictation or neither may be used with client information. We have not run a controlled accuracy benchmark against Apple Dictation.
Questions people ask
Can a paralegal use dictation software without asking the supervising lawyer?
For personal, non-client text, perhaps. For anything involving client information, ask. Rule 5.3 puts responsibility on the firm and the supervising lawyer, and Opinion 512 expects firms to set clear policies on AI tools.
Does dictating a note keep it privileged?
We cannot tell you that, and no dictation app can promise it. Privilege and confidentiality questions belong to your supervising lawyer. What you can control is where the text goes: the dictation path, any AI formatting, local history and the destination system.
Should a paralegal dictate a client email?
Only a draft, and only for the lawyer to approve if it touches anything that could be read as legal advice. Read it against your notes and check the recipient before it is sent.
What is the best way to handle case citations by voice?
Type them, or paste them from your research tool. Reporter abbreviations, volume numbers and pin cites are where speech recognition fails most often, and a wrong cite is costly.
Related guides
- Offline Mac dictation for lawyers
- Dictate a client-call attendance note
- Dictate a client email without changing advice
- Questions a law firm should ask a dictation vendor
- Where does my dictation go?
- Voice dictation for law firms on Mac
Sources
- American Bar Association — Rule 5.3: Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistance
- American Bar Association — Rule 1.6: Confidentiality of Information
- American Bar Association — Formal Opinion 512: Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools
- NALA, The Paralegal Association — Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility
- Apple — Dictate messages and documents on Mac