Law Firm IT Downtime Cost Calculator
Your firm sells time. Every hour your systems are down is an hour you can't bill. See what downtime really costs — and what enterprise-grade managed IT, delivered locally, could save you.
Not sure? Start with a firm like yours
Pick a size to fill in typical numbers, then adjust anything you know.
Your firm
Count partners, associates, and of counsel.
Paralegals, assistants, billing, and admin.
Most small and mid-size firms bill $250–$400/hr.[2]
Industry average is about 1,576 hours a year.[1]
Your downtime today
Outages, email down, a locked-out system, slow case software. Typical firms see 3–6.
From waiting to getting back to work. 2–3 hours is common without proactive support.
Usually about a third of your attorneys.
Usually about a third of your staff.
As needed time and materials, an in-house IT person's share, or your current provider. Guess if unsure.
Legal risk exposure
Times downtime caused a missed or nearly-missed filing, e-filing window, or court prep. Use 1 if unsure.[4]
Refiling, write-offs, or a malpractice claim. Average claims run up to $100,000; $25,000 is a conservative estimate.[5]
Managed IT modeled at $175/user/month (industry range $175–$250, blended regular business and off hours rates) with an estimated 70% reduction in downtime. See "How we calculated this" below.
Rates further reduced based on contract duration.
Downtime is costing your firm about $111,850 a year — roughly 2.5% of your billable revenue. Managed IT could win back about 84 hours.
Annual cost comparison
Your full downtime report
Why law firms can't afford downtime
Court deadlines
An outage near an e-filing window can mean a missed deadline. Calendar errors are among the leading causes of malpractice claims.
Client confidentiality
ABA Formal Opinion 483 requires firms to protect client data and notify clients after a breach.
Discovery & document access
When your document or case management system is down, discovery and litigation holds stall.
Client trust
Clients expect answers now. Unreachable email or files erode the relationships your firm is built on.
Get your full downtime report
Unlock your itemized breakdown and we'll email a copy, plus a no-obligation review from our North Charleston team.
How we calculated this
We want you to trust these numbers. Here are the assumptions, the math, and the research behind them.
Figures are illustrative estimates, not a guarantee. The 70% downtime reduction is an industry-typical assumption rather than an independent benchmark. Your actual results depend on your firm's systems and practices.