The vendor has to hear it
Cloud transcription cannot be end-to-end encrypted. The server must process the audio in the clear, so the vendor and its subprocessors hold readable recordings.
MDN Web Speech API · Zoom E2EE documentation
Private speech-to-text for law firms
Dictation that never leaves your office.
We install a transcription server inside your firm. You dictate as usual; the audio is turned into text on your own hardware and is never sent to a cloud vendor.
- Processing
- On-premises, your hardware
- Audio sent out
- None
- Vendor training
- None
- Works offline
- Yes
- Legal vocabulary
- Tuned per practice area
Why local
Cloud dictation hands your client's words to someone else.
Most dictation tools, including the ones built into phones and Windows, send audio to a server to be transcribed. Encryption protects it on the way there. It does not stop the vendor from reading it once it arrives.
Defaults favor keeping it
Several major services retain voice data or use it to improve their models unless you opt out. Human review of recordings by contractors has been documented more than once.
AWS Transcribe docs · Apple, Microsoft privacy pagesCourts are paying attention
A 2026 federal ruling treated a client's use of a consumer AI tool as disclosure to a third party. Bar opinions now ask lawyers to know where recordings are stored and who can use them.
U.S. v. Heppner (S.D.N.Y. 2026) · NYC Bar Formal Op. 2025-6
Side by side
Where your audio goes
| Question | Typical cloud dictation | IdeaStream server |
|---|---|---|
| Where is speech turned into text? | The vendor's data centre | A machine in your office |
| Who can access the audio? | The vendor, its subprocessors, and anyone with a court order against them | Your firm |
| Is it used to train models? | Depends on the plan and your settings | No |
| Can you prove it was deleted? | Usually a request and a 30-day wait, rarely a certificate | You delete the file yourself |
| Does it work without internet? | No | Yes |
How it works
From first call to dictating, in [N] weeks
Egress audit
We find every place your firm's voice and text currently leave the building: dictation apps, phone keyboards, meeting bots, Windows voice typing.
Install the server
A compact machine goes in your office. It runs the speech model locally and connects to the devices your attorneys already use.
Tune the vocabulary
We build a correction dictionary for your practice: Latin terms, local courts, client and opposing-party names.
Care plan
Updates, backups, accuracy checks and a settings review so devices don't drift back to cloud recognition after updates.
Services and pricing
Published prices. No software commissions.
We don't resell software or take referral fees, so the advice can include "keep what you have."
Egress audit
$2,500
- Inventory of tools, accounts and devices
- Settings and terms captured with dates
- Written findings and a fix list
- Half credited toward installation within [60] days
Server installation
$4,500 one time
- Hardware specified and configured
- Dictation on desktops and phones
- Legal vocabulary tuned for your practice
- Staff walkthrough
Care plan
$1,500 per month
- Model and security updates
- Monthly accuracy check
- Device settings review
- Priority support
Already used cloud dictation?
Preserve first. Delete second.
Deleting a vendor account in a hurry can create a bigger problem than the one you're fixing. We handle the technical side in an order that keeps your records intact, and we work alongside your ethics counsel and malpractice carrier. They make the legal calls.
- Stop new audio going out, without deleting anything yet
- Capture the settings and terms that applied, with dates
- Inventory what was dictated, where, and for which matters
- Export everything to firm storage and verify it
- After counsel signs off, delete from the vendor and request written confirmation
- Revoke app access, clean devices, and re-check after 30 and 90 days
Fit
Who this is for, and who it isn't
A good fit
- Firms of [2–50] attorneys who dictate daily
- Practices handling health, family, criminal or trade-secret matters
- Firms whose clients ask where their data goes
- Offices with patchy internet
Probably not a fit
- Firms already on an enterprise plan with no-training and short-retention terms they've read
- Anyone who wants AI to draft legal work rather than transcribe it
- Firms needing a same-week install
Your photo
4:5, natural light
4:5, natural light
Who you'll work with
[Your name]
[Two or three sentences: how long you've worked with law firms, and what you do for them today.]
[What you built for yourself first, with one checkable number, for example the attorney profiles your own pipeline parses.]
[Why local: one sentence in your own words.]
Questions
Common questions
How accurate is it on legal terms?
Common terms like habeas corpus, summary judgment and in limine come through correctly out of the box. Rarer Latin and unusual surnames are fixed by a correction dictionary built for your practice. [Add your measured accuracy once you've tested on real voices.]
Does it work on phones?
[Describe how attorneys dictate from a phone to the office server, and what happens when they're away from the office.]
What hardware do I need?
[Name the box you specify, its footprint, and whether it needs a graphics card.]
Is this legal advice?
No. We handle technology and documentation. Decisions about client notification, privilege and insurance belong to your attorneys, ethics counsel and carrier.
Do you translate as well as transcribe?
[Describe the translation service: which languages, and whether it also runs locally.]
Find out where your firm's audio goes.
A 20-minute call. We'll ask what your attorneys use to dictate and tell you plainly whether an audit is worth it.
Book a call
[you@yourdomain.com]