2020 is shaping up to be one of the most socially and legally divisive years in memory, with a variety of national debates shaking Australian society and the doors of lawyers’ offices nationwide. The clamour around proposed changes to the same-sex marriage laws is heating up, with inflammatory advertising and anger at the lack of legal implications in an upcoming postal vote splitting the nation. Proposed changes to Australia Day’s January 26 date is also proving schismatic, split along generational lines. With hundreds of cases spinning off these national debates, Australian lawyers face a busy period.
Addressing the legal issues
Despite over 66,000 solicitors currently practising in Australia, according to the Law Society of NSW, there still looks to be a major shortfall in legal representation for all members of society. Pro Bono Australia indicated that, on average, over 4 million Australians will experience three or more legal needs in a given year, but do nothing to address them. This major legal under-representation means that law offices could see record numbers of legal cases moving into the new year.
Time is a priceless commodity, so helping lawyers negate the hours of wasteful note-taking and enabling them to devote their time to seeing more cases will be vital. Step forward Voice Recognition – our Dragon Legal dictation software offers users customisable transcription and notation services, saving time, money and patience.
Saving time in note taking and organisation
A large part of a lawyer’s job is taking notes on legal cases, meetings and government legislation. This is an essential but time-consuming process, meaning that solicitors often can’t spend the quality time with clients needed to provide thorough consultation. Using Dragon Legal, you can work faster and smarter. Dictation lowers the amount of notation errors, with voice editing easy and quicker than by hand. Additionally, this software is designed to identify the correct context and grammatical use for homophonic words, meaning you don’t have to correct your notes – Dragon Legal does it for you.
A word bank of terminology includes 30,000 legal phrases, with word lists customisable to your own speech. You can import and export terms or phrases at any time, with Dragon Legal instinctive to repeated uses, enabling predictive dictation truly unique to you.
Indeed, Dragon Legal goes beyond just dictation services – its intuitive technology can also be integrated with other devices, meaning you can send emails, search the internet and run commands on your phone or computer. Extending dictation’s capabilities to improving the organisation of time-poor lawyers is a major plus.
Improving consultation
Legal counsel with clients is an irreplaceable part of a lawyer’s job, so any advance in increasing face-to-face time with clients is vital. Dragon Legal not only makes writing quicker, it also means that lawyers can record conversations for note-taking purposes, giving clients a more meaningful role in their own legal case. With increased time spent interacting with clients, law professionals can do more in providing thorough consultation and getting all the facts from their clients. If the law is about ensuring people are fairly treated, Dragon Legal enables solicitors to put them first.
The privacy and security of sensitive information is predictably serious points of concern – but one’s Dragon Legal have covered. Administrative security protocols mean that only authorised users are allowed to make changes to your custom settings. This protects the sensitivity of your client information and the integrity of your legal counsel.
Explore Dragon Legal’s capabilities
These hugely divisive national issues are unlikely to be addressed soon, and lawyers nationwide need to be prepared for the avalanche of legal cases coming their way. Saving time in your practice will be vital, so why not look into an intuitive and easy-to-use dictation software that will save you time, money and patience? To speak to someone about Dragon Legal’s capabilities, contact our team today.