What a new associate really costs in IT: a budgeting checklist for law firms

Adding an associate or a paralegal means the firm is growing. It shouldn't mean the new hire spends their first week on a borrowed laptop waiting for a login to the case management system.

Technology is usually the biggest per-person cost after salary and benefits, and most of it is predictable. Here's what to budget for every hire.

1. Hardware

A laptop, a dock, two monitors, a headset, and possibly a phone. Attorneys who try cases need a machine that can handle trial presentation software and large exhibit files. Define a standard kit for each role so the order goes in the day the offer is accepted.

2. Software seats

Legal software is mostly per user, and it adds up faster than people expect. A typical list:

• Microsoft 365
• Case or practice management
• Document management
• PDF editing and e-signature
• Legal research
• Dictation or transcription
• E-discovery or litigation support, where the role needs it
• Time and billing

Keep an itemized list of every per-user subscription so a new hire's monthly cost is a known number, not a surprise on next month's statements.

3. Accounts and security

This part has the biggest consequences if it's rushed:

• Accounts with multi-factor sign-in from day one, never a shared or borrowed login.
• Access by matter, including any ethical walls or conflicts screens the new hire needs to be behind.
• Training on the firm's email, wire-verification and confidentiality rules before they start sending client email.
• Building access: keycards or fobs issued properly, not borrowed.

4. Setup time

Even when IT is covered by a monthly agreement or an in-house person, setup takes hours per hire. When a firm brings on a class of associates at once, that time competes with everything else IT is doing. Plan it, and give your IT team the start dates early.

5. Growth thresholds

One hire rarely changes your infrastructure. Ten might. More people can mean a higher licensing tier, more storage, a bigger internet connection, more wireless coverage or a second office. Know where those thresholds are so the decision to hire doesn't run into a network that can't support it.

Put it in the hiring plan

The fix is simple: technology gets a line in every hiring decision. Your IT provider should be able to hand you a per-role cost and a lead time, and have the new hire's desk ready before day one.