Should ABC Law Firm Implement Google Drive?

ABC Law Firm currently uses Microsoft Office 2007 for all word processing and spreadsheet needs. The attorneys and staff members rely on the advanced  features of Word including the reference tools for marking citations, creating a table of authorities and drafting court pleadings. In addition, the  review features are used daily to track changes and compare document drafts.  An alternative to Microsoft Office is available. Google Drive is a web-based program that offers an alternative to Microsoft Office. The features include  document, spreadsheet, presentation, form and drawing. By logging into a  Google email account, Google Drive enables users to share documents and  simultaneously amend documents. All documents are accessible from any  computer and are auto-saved each minute alleviating the stress of losing  documents. Please note, Google Drive does not offer some of the more advance  features that are used regularly in Microsoft Office. The question was posed "What would be the monetary costs of switching  to Google Drive in lieu of Microsoft Office?" As one can see from the calculations below, the cost of training employees totals  $7,850.00 in lost billable hours.  Each law firm member’s hourly rate was multiplied by the number of training hours needed. The attorneys will receive a 2 hour training session and the paralegals will receive a 3 hour training session since they need to know all the features Google Drive offers. ABC Law Firm’s IT representative  charges $180.00 per hour for training on the Google Drive functionality and  implementation. IT training for 5 hours totals $900.00. The total cost of switching  to Google Drive is $8,750.00.                             ABC Law Firm Lost Billable Hours for Training on Google Drive Title Hourly Rate     Training Session Hours Lost Total Billables Lost Managing Partner  $     425.00                                              2  $                        850.00 Partner 1  $     375.00                                              2  $                        750.00 Partner 2  $     375.00                                              2  $                        750.00 Of Counsel 1  $     350.00                                              2  $                        700.00 Of Counsel 2  $     350.00                                              2  $                        700.00 Of Counsel3  $     350.00                                              2  $                        700.00 Of Counsel 4 (part time)  $     350.00                                              2  $                        700.00 Of Counsel 5 (part time)  $     350.00                                              2  $                        700.00 Associate  $     250.00                                              2  $                        500.00 Paralegal 1  $     125.00                                              3  $                        375.00 Paralegal 2  $     125.00                                              3  $                        375.00 Paralegal 3  $     125.00                                              3  $                        375.00 Paralegal 4 (part time)  $     125.00                                              3  $                        375.00 TOTAL BILLABLES LOST  $                    7,850.00 IT Trainer Cost  $     180.00                                              5  $                       900.00 TOTAL COST TO ABC LAW FIRM  $                    8,750.00 This analysis is purely addressing costs of switching from Microsoft Office to Google Drive. This analysis does not take into consideration the legal ramifications of using a cloud based document system that ABC Law Firm does not monitor the security. In addition, Google Drive is not compatible with Worldox, our current document management system.