At Diktamen, we’re often asked the same question by legal professionals: “Do lawyers still dictate?” This question has become a recurring theme in the wake of our blog last year, “Is Dictation on the Decline? Debunking the Myth.” With the rise of AI technologies, speech recognition tools, and other innovations, many believe that traditional dictation practices are becoming obsolete. While new technologies are gaining interest, our experience shows that digital dictation is thriving.
To shed light on why dictation remains so popular, we interviewed several law firms and some of our technology partners, including Teachers Stern Solicitors, RDJ LLP, Devonshires, Payne Hicks Beach, Wollens Solicitors, Rothera Bray, Bates Wells, Quiss, SP1 IT Solutions, Welgo, Abacus Systems, and Brian Berrills & Company Solicitors. In this blog, we’ll explore why legal firms continue to rely on dictation in 2025, how our cloud-based solution supports this practice, and why we believe the future of digital dictation is brighter than ever.
A Traditional Method That Works
For many lawyers, dictation is a tried-and-true method that enhances productivity and efficiency. Senior lawyers, in particular, have relied on dictation as a core part of their workflow for decades. Though we’ve moved past tapes and mics, the practice remains the same: speaking into a device and having it transcribed by a professional.
Today, dictation is done digitally—most commonly through smartphones or apps that send recordings directly to a cloud-based transcription service. At Diktamen, we designed our solution to preserve this traditional workflow, but in a more modern, streamlined, and digital way.
As Andy Cecil, IT Director at Teachers Stern Solicitors, aptly puts it: “Dictation is a skill, and it can definitely increase efficiency. Dictation is especially useful for tasks such as document creation and amendments, where speed and accuracy are crucial.”
Steve Cronin, Project Manager at RDJ LLP, agrees: “Dictation is a key part of the workflow across our offices in Cork, Dublin, and Galway. It delivers efficiencies and competitive advantages for both in-office and remote work.”
Easy Deployment: A Seamless Transition to Digital
Switching to a new system can often seem daunting, especially when traditional dictation systems require on-site visits, extensive service days, and in-depth training. At Diktamen, we believe it shouldn’t be that way. Our cloud-based solution is designed for ease of deployment, allowing law firms to transition seamlessly without disrupting their teams’ workflow.
Gavin Searley, ICT Manager at Devonshires, reflects on their experience: “Migrating to Diktamen from our previous on-premise solution has been one of the easiest IT projects to deliver.”
What’s more, our software is designed to be intuitive, allowing firms to adopt it without the need for extensive, time-consuming training. Ed Mozley, Senior Infrastructure & Applications Manager at Bates Wells, shares: “The software is extremely intuitive and ‘just works’. This refreshing change meant that our people were quickly productive without the typical extensive and time-consuming training”
Additionally, Andy Hawley, Business Development Manager at Quiss, comments: “The team at Diktamen offers an innovative approach with tailored, customisable options and has successfully transitioned hundreds of organisations to help them operate more efficiently.”
Stefano Pratesi, Managing Director at SP1 IT Solutions, adds: “We’ve always been committed to providing innovative IT solutions, and now, with Diktamen’s customisable and easy-to-deploy technology, we can offer immediate and significant improvements.”
Minimal Maintenance for Maximum Efficiency
When it comes to IT management, maintenance should be as simple as possible. Diktamen’s solution offers automatic updates and customisations that ensure the system stays current, all without requiring constant attention from in-house IT teams.
Daniel Manicolo, IT Manager at Payne Hicks Beach, explains: “For IT, it’s easy to maintain and offers flexibility and scalability. We wanted cloud benefits without complicating things for users, and Diktamen delivered.”
Eoghan Johnson, Business Development Director at Abacus Systems, adds: “We have worked with Diktamen for a number of years, and are always happy to recommend them to our customers. Their software is reliable and maintains itself.”
Outstanding Support: Always There When You Need Us
At Diktamen, we pride ourselves on delivering exceptional customer support. We don’t just provide software—we ensure that our clients are able to work effectively, with our team always available to help when needed.
Alex Nagy, IT Manager at Wollens Solicitors, shares: “We’ve been extremely pleased with the service provided by Diktamen. Their team is responsive and knowledgeable, and they navigated the complexities of our Citrix environment with ease. The support has been fast and reliable.”
Speech Recognition vs. Digital Dictation: Not the Same Thing
A common misconception is that speech recognition replaces digital dictation, but it often fails to meet the accuracy required for complex legal language. Additionally, speech recognition often requires users to change the way they work, which isn’t always efficient.
Many legal professionals still prefer dictating audio files, which can be transcribed by experts, rather than working with speech-to-text tools that require constant editing and correction.
Stefan Melocha, Head of IT at Rothera Bray, explains: “Diktamen’s solution has streamlined our dictation processes. We also use speech recognition for some users, but it’s great because not everyone needs it. Diktamen’s cost-effective options cater to this need perfectly.”
How Diktamen Fits into Today’s AI World
While AI and other new technologies are making waves in the legal sector, we believe digital dictation isn’t going anywhere. In fact, AI will complement, not replace, traditional dictation. Dictating remains a core part of legal training and practice, and AI can assist with tasks like generating reports, helping law firms work more efficiently without disrupting their established workflows.
At Diktamen, we’ve already started integrating AI capabilities into our reporting module, which helps our beta clients pull performance reports with ease, adding another layer of efficiency to their operations.
Brian Gordon, Founder and Executive Director at Welgo, shares: “Over the last 20 years, we’ve seen voice capture solutions for legal firms advance, along with our understanding. Working with Diktamen and their innovative features like task management, AI for business reporting, speech recognition, and other useful features on their roadmap excites us for our businesses together.”
Conclusion: The Future of Dictation in Law Firms
Despite the growing interest in new technologies, we firmly believe that digital dictation will remain an essential tool for law firms. Our cloud-based solutions supports traditional dictation while integrating AI, offering easy deployment, minimal maintenance, and excellent support to help law firms thrive.
The myth that digital dictation is on the decline is just that—a myth. Law firms still rely on it, and with our innovative additional features, it will remain a cornerstone of legal workflows for years to come.
We’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the law firms and IT partners who contributed their insights to this blog, including Teachers Stern Solicitors, RDJ LLP, Devonshires, Payne Hicks Beach, Wollens Solicitors, Rothera Bray, Bates Wells, Quiss, SP1 IT Solutions, Welgo, Abacus Systems, and Brian Berrills & Company Solicitors. Your feedback has been invaluable in helping us understand the ongoing importance of digital dictation in the legal sector. Thank you for your continued trust in Diktamen.
Your partnership and support are truly valued as we move forward into an exciting year ahead!
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