How much does IT support cost for a small law firm in Dallas?
Managed IT for a small Dallas law firm is usually quoted per user or per device per month; across the Dallas market that is commonly around $100 to $175 per user, a typical range rather than my price list. I am Anthony Omini of Cross River Tech: I quote firms after a short conversation, month to month, and solo attorneys can start with hourly help at $100 remote or $150 onsite.
Answered by Anthony Omini, Cross River Tech, Dallas
Key takeaways
- Most IT companies quote law firms per user or per device per month; in the Dallas market that is commonly around $100 to $175 per user, a typical range and not my price list.
- Software licenses, new computers and one-time projects such as an office move or a document management rollout are usually billed on top of the monthly fee.
- What moves a law firm's quote most: the number of people, whether practice management and documents live in the cloud or on a server, and what the firm's clients and insurer require.
- Solo attorneys and two-lawyer offices often pay less with hourly help until the firm grows or client data requirements tighten.
- A cheap quote that leaves out backups, email security or onsite visits is not cheaper once the first incident arrives.
What does IT support cost for a small law firm in Dallas?
For a small firm on a monthly plan, expect a per-user or per-device price. Across the Dallas market, small business managed IT is commonly quoted somewhere around $100 to $175 per user per month. That is a typical market range, not my price list, and law firms tend to sit wherever their software and their clients' requirements put them within it.
I am Anthony Omini, the owner of Cross River Tech in Dallas, and law firms are one of the industries I focus on. I quote each firm after a short conversation, because two ten-person firms can need very different things: one runs Clio and Microsoft 365 entirely in the cloud, the other still has a document server in a closet and a corporate client sending security questionnaires every quarter.
To make the market range concrete, here is what it works out to at a few firm sizes. These are arithmetic on the typical range, not quotes:
| Firm size | Monthly at the typical market range |
|---|---|
| 3 people | About $300 to $525 |
| 10 people | About $1,000 to $1,750 |
| 20 people | About $2,000 to $3,500 |
My plans are month to month with no long-term contract, so the number is something you can test rather than commit to for three years. How I support firms day to day is on the IT support for law firms page.
What should the monthly fee include for a law firm?
Before comparing numbers, make sure the quotes cover the same work. What I include in managed IT for a law office:
- Operating system and application updates on every computer and server
- Unlimited remote support, and onsite visits at no extra charge when remote cannot fix it
- Antivirus and endpoint protection, plus email security against phishing and spoofed invoices
- Managed backup and disaster recovery, with restores tested
- Management of the office network: internet line, router, firewall, switches, Wi-Fi access points and printers
- Day-to-day administration of Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace: accounts, mailboxes, shared files, multi-factor sign-in
- Help with practice management and document software at the IT level: installs, updates, sign-in problems, speed, and talking to the vendor for you
If a quote is much lower than the others, look for what it leaves out. The usual gaps are backups (or backups nobody tests), email security, onsite visits billed hourly on top, and after-hours help billed at a premium with no warning.
What is billed on top of the monthly fee?
Three things are almost always separate, with any IT company, and a fair quote says so plainly:
- Software licenses. Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, Clio, MyCase, NetDocuments, Adobe and similar subscriptions are paid per user to the vendor or through the IT company, at the vendor's price. They are not part of IT support itself.
- Hardware. New laptops, desktops, scanners, firewalls and Wi-Fi access points are bought for the firm and quoted per item.
- Projects. Moving offices, wiring a new suite, migrating from a document server to the cloud or replacing every computer at once are quoted as one-time projects, because they are planned work with a start and an end.
When you budget, add the licenses and a yearly hardware amount to the monthly support figure. A common approach is to replace a few computers every year rather than all of them at once, so the hardware line stays steady. How to set a small business IT budget walks through that in more detail.
What makes a law firm's IT quote higher or lower?
Five things move the number most:
- The number of people and devices. The biggest factor by far. Attorneys with a laptop, a desktop at the office and a phone may be priced per user rather than per device to keep it simple; per-user vs per-device pricing explains when each is cheaper.
- Cloud or server. A firm on cloud practice management and cloud documents needs less hands-on maintenance than one running a document management server, a local database and a VPN for remote access.
- Client and insurer requirements. Corporate clients, insurance carriers and cyber insurers increasingly ask for multi-factor sign-in, encryption, tested backups and written security controls. Meeting them is more work than basic support, and it is worth paying for because it keeps the work coming.
- Retention and e-discovery needs. Firms that must keep years of email and documents searchable need more storage, retention settings and backup planning.
- The state of the setup on day one. An office with old computers, shared passwords and no documentation needs a cleanup at the start, which I quote separately so it does not inflate the monthly fee forever.
Is hourly IT support cheaper for a small law office?
For a solo attorney or a two-lawyer office with simple needs, often yes. If your practice runs in the cloud, your computers are reasonably new and problems come up a few times a year, paying by the hour can cost less than a monthly plan. My hourly rates are published: during business hours, Monday to Friday 8 AM to 5 PM Central, $100 per hour remote and $150 per hour onsite; after hours, weekends and holidays, $150 remote and $225 onsite; one-hour minimum.
Hourly stops being the better deal when:
- Nobody is applying updates, checking backups or watching email security between calls, so problems build up unseen.
- Client confidentiality requirements mean someone needs to be responsible for security every month, not only when something breaks.
- The firm grows past a few people and the calls become weekly.
- One bad incident, such as a hacked mailbox or a ransomware infection, would cost more than a year of a monthly plan.
I am happy to start a small office on hourly help and suggest a plan only when the numbers say so. IT support for solo attorneys and small law offices covers that stage, and hourly vs monthly IT support compares the two in general.
What does it cost a law firm to get IT wrong?
More than any monthly fee. Without inventing statistics, the costs a small firm actually faces after an IT failure are easy to list:
- Billable hours lost while attorneys and staff cannot reach documents, email or the practice management system.
- Missed deadlines when a filing day collides with a dead laptop or an internet outage.
- Client trust after a breach, a misdirected wire from a spoofed email, or a confidential file sent from a hacked mailbox.
- Insurance and client questionnaires the firm can no longer answer honestly, which can raise premiums or cost work.
- Emergency rates paid to whoever can come fastest, with no knowledge of how the office is set up.
Most of those are prevented by unexciting work done every month: updates, multi-factor sign-in, email filtering, encrypted laptops and backups that someone actually restores. Law firm cybersecurity and client confidentiality covers the controls in detail.
How do I compare IT quotes from different companies?
Put them side by side on the same questions, not only the monthly number:
| Ask | Why it matters for a law firm |
|---|---|
| Is it per user or per device, and who counts as a user? | Part-time staff and contract attorneys can change the total |
| Are onsite visits included? | Some plans are remote only, with onsite billed hourly |
| Who checks the backups, and how often is a restore tested? | A backup nobody has restored is a guess |
| Is email security and multi-factor sign-in included? | Spoofed invoices and hacked mailboxes are the most common law office incident |
| How long is the contract, and what does leaving cost? | Month to month keeps the provider earning your business |
| Who will I actually talk to? | A firm needs someone who knows its setup, not a different technician every call |
With me, you deal with me directly: I answer, plan the work and come onsite myself, while my team handles routine monitoring and updates. How to compare IT support quotes has a fuller checklist.
How do I get a quote for my firm?
Tell me how many attorneys and staff you have, how many computers, which practice management and document systems you use, and whether anything still runs on a server in the office. If a client or insurer has sent you a security questionnaire, send that too; it tells me exactly what the firm has to meet. I come back with a monthly figure, a list of anything I would fix first, and what is billed separately, so there are no surprises later.
I support law firms across Dallas and the suburbs, including IT support for law firms in Plano, onsite by appointment and remotely anywhere in Texas. You can contact me or call (214) 612-7080.
Questions people ask
How much does IT support cost for a small law firm in Dallas?
Most IT companies quote law firms per user or per device per month. Across the Dallas market, small business managed IT is commonly around $100 to $175 per user per month, a typical range rather than any one company's price. Software licenses, new hardware and one-time projects are usually billed separately. Cross River Tech quotes each firm after a short conversation, month to month.
What should a 10-attorney firm budget for IT each month?
At the typical Dallas market range of about $100 to $175 per user, a firm with ten people would see roughly $1,000 to $1,750 a month for managed IT support, before software licenses such as Microsoft 365 and practice management. Add a yearly amount for replacing a few computers. Client security requirements and on-premises servers push the figure toward the top of the range.
Is hourly IT support cheaper than managed IT for a law office?
For a solo attorney or a two-lawyer office running in the cloud, hourly help is often cheaper. Cross River Tech charges $100 per hour remote and $150 onsite during business hours, with a one-hour minimum. Once a firm grows, faces client security requirements or needs someone checking backups and updates every month, a monthly plan usually costs less than the problems it prevents.
Are Clio or Microsoft 365 licenses included in IT support?
Usually not. Practice management, document management and Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace licenses are subscriptions paid per user at the vendor's price. IT support covers setting them up, securing them, managing accounts and solving problems with them. A good quote lists the licenses separately so you can see what the support itself costs.
Do you support small law firms outside Dallas?
Yes. I support law firms across the Dallas–Fort Worth area, including Plano, Frisco, Richardson and McKinney, onsite by appointment, and remotely anywhere in Texas. Solo attorneys and small offices are welcome and often start with hourly help before moving to a monthly plan.
Sources and further reading
Market price ranges in this article are my own observation of quotes in the Dallas market, not a published survey. Where I state a rule or a standard, the source is linked above.
