Machine translation for lawyers: keep client documents confidential
Pasting a client's contract into an online translator sends it to a third party's servers. A translator that runs on your own Mac doesn't: the document stays on your computer, so translating it to understand it, review it or draft a reply doesn't widen the circle of people who have seen it.
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The confidentiality problem with online translators
Lawyers deal in documents they are bound to protect: contracts under negotiation, evidence, correspondence, a client's personal data. An online translator has to receive the text to translate it, and its provider may then keep a copy under its own terms. Professional bodies in several countries warn that using such tools can put client confidentiality at risk, and some firms ban them outright. Check the rules of your bar and your firm; the safest technical answer is a translator that never sends the text.
What machine translation is good for in legal work
- Understanding a foreign-language contract, judgment or letter before you decide what needs a certified translation.
- Reviewing a counterparty's draft clause by clause.
- Drafting an email or a cover note to a client or colleague abroad.
- Checking a term: its meanings and how it is used.
It is not a substitute for a sworn or certified translation of a document that will be signed, filed or relied on in court. Use it as your own working copy.
Translate a contract on your Mac, clause by clause
- Open the contract in Preview, Pages, your word processor or your document management system.
- Select a clause and press ⌃⌥T. Kalila opens in the menu bar with the translation.
- For a single term, select just the word: Kalila shows a dictionary card with its meanings and examples.
- Need to answer in the other language? Write your reply, select it, and choose Services › Translate and Replace with Kalila.
Kalila for Mac translates with Apple's on-device engine and only the languages downloaded to your Mac. There is no account, no analytics and no server that receives the text. Its history and phrasebook stay on your Mac, and you can clear them at any time.
Version 0.2.3 · macOS 26.4 or later · Apple Silicon
What Kalila does and doesn't do
| Kalila for Mac | |
|---|---|
| Text sent to a server | Never |
| Works offline | Yes, once the languages are downloaded |
| Translates selected text in any app | Yes, with ⌃⌥T |
| Opens PDF or other document files | No: select the text in the file instead |
| Keeps the document's layout | No: you get the text |
| Certified translation | No: it is a working tool |
Questions
Can lawyers use online translators for client documents?
It depends on your jurisdiction, your firm and the client's instructions. Guidance in many jurisdictions says that sending confidential material to a third-party service calls for care, and sometimes the client's consent. A translator that runs on your own device doesn't involve a third party at all, because nothing is sent.
Does Kalila store the documents I translate?
Kalila keeps a history and a phrasebook on your Mac only, so you can find a translation again. Nothing is uploaded, and you can clear the history at any time.
How good is it with legal language?
Good enough to understand a document and follow its structure. Legal terms of art often have no exact equivalent in another legal system, so check key terms against the original and a legal dictionary, and have binding texts translated by a professional.
Does it work without an internet connection, for example in a secure room?
Yes. Once the languages are downloaded, Kalila translates with the Mac fully offline.
How much does it cost?
Nothing. Kalila for Mac is free, with no account and no limits. It needs macOS 26.4 or later on a Mac with Apple Silicon.
Related
- Is online translation safe for confidential documents?
- How to translate a PDF on a Mac without uploading it
- Translating medical records without sharing them