What a law firm's IT proposal should prove before you sign
An IT proposal can describe useful services and still leave a managing partner unable to judge what the firm is buying. The price may be clear while the responsibilities, exclusions and evidence remain scattered across several documents.
Before signing, bring the proposal, service agreement and any relevant invoice together. Read them as one decision. What work is included? What would show it happened? Who answers the questions left open? The aim is a written basis for approval that both the firm and its provider can refer to later.
1. Define the work behind the description
Start with the service names. A phrase such as comprehensive support does not tell you which offices, people, devices or applications are covered. Ask for an itemized scope that identifies the covered environment, the work to be performed and the exclusions. It should distinguish initial setup from the work repeated each month.
Consider a fictional proposal that includes employee onboarding. Ask whether that covers account creation, device preparation, access approval and a completion record. Who tells the provider that someone has joined? Who approves access? If these tasks appear in separate documents, check that those documents describe the same service.
Write down dependencies too. A service may depend on the firm supplying an accurate staff list or approving a change. Knowing that dependency before signing helps both sides understand what is expected.
2. Match each promise to useful evidence
For each important commitment, ask what record would support it. The answer should be specific enough that a person reviewing the file later could identify the document, its date and what it covers.
For example, if the proposal includes recovery testing, ask for a dated record showing what was restored, how the result was checked, the time taken and any unresolved exceptions. A report that a backup job completed answers a different question. It does not, by itself, document the outcome of a restore test.
Keep the conclusion proportionate. If a test record has not been supplied, record the test result as unverified. Missing paperwork does not establish that the provider failed to do the work. It establishes a question to resolve before relying on that promise.
Agree on the future evidence as well: which report you will receive, how often, and who will review exceptions with the firm.
3. Reconcile the price with the scope
Read the proposed charges beside the latest invoice and current subscriptions. Separate product licenses, setup work and recurring service labor. For each line, identify its quantity, unit, billing period and relationship to the scope.
A fictional invoice might show twenty user licenses while a renewal adds an endpoint service for twenty-eight devices. That difference may be reasonable: one person can use more than one device. Ask for the lists and definitions before calling the charges duplicates.
Where two items appear to cover a similar function, ask what each contributes. One may include a license, another configuration or ongoing monitoring. Request the provider's written explanation, then decide whether the proposed combination fits the firm's needs.
Also identify one-time charges, usage-based charges and services billed separately. A monthly headline price is easier to assess when the conditions that change it are visible.
4. Make responsibilities and dates explicit
Look for named roles when something needs attention. If an incident is reported, who receives the first call? What work is included, what requires separate authorization, and who keeps the firm informed? Ask the provider to describe the handoff in writing, including any outside service on which it depends.
Then review the commercial calendar. Locate the start date, renewal date, notice period, price-adjustment basis and process for ending the service. Ask how the firm's documents and records would be returned, in what format and at what cost.
Put unclear terms on a question list for the provider and, where legal interpretation is needed, the firm's counsel. A business review can identify missing dates or unclear responsibilities; counsel should address enforceability and proposed legal wording. Keep the final written answers with the version of the agreement you are considering.
5. Turn unanswered questions into a decision
Use a short working table with four columns: commitment, evidence received, open question and person responsible for answering. Set a date for the answers. This gives the provider a concrete request and gives leadership a clear record of what remains unresolved.
MOAT provides an independent review of the paperwork. We sell no managed IT, hardware or software and accept no vendor commissions. Our review needs no passwords or network access. Its conclusions are limited to the documents and scope reviewed.
To start, request a free Missing-Evidence Check of one proposal or invoice. It takes 24 business hours after we confirm complete documents. Visit /contact or call 914-288-6068 to arrange the review. Share only documents you are authorized to provide, with unnecessary personal information and client matter details removed.