Every figure below comes from a primary source: the Elite US Master Terms dated July 1, 2025, Elite's own news and event pages, Microsoft's SQL Server 2022 price list, a ProLaw hosting provider's price page, and Wayback Machine captures of every ProLaw page Thomson Reuters and Elite published from 1996 to 2023. Where a review site prints a number nobody can trace, we say so. We build CaseAgent, which competes for some of the same firms, so the comparison table uses each vendor's own published price and nothing else.
How much does ProLaw cost?
ProLaw has no published price. Elite, which owns it, sells it by quote through a sales representative, and no Elite or Thomson Reuters page has ever printed a figure. The real cost is several lines: the ProLaw license or subscription, the Annual Maintenance Plan, Microsoft SQL Server and Windows Server (or a hosting fee) and implementation by a partner.
We checked whether a price ever existed. The Wayback Machine holds 334 captures of prolaw.com from 1996 to 2006, Elite's ProLaw pages from 2008 to 2015 and the Thomson Reuters ProLaw section from 2020 to 2023. None prints a list price. The pages offer a demo request and nothing else. Today the Thomson Reuters URL and elite.com/products/prolaw both redirect to elite.com/support, which says: "If you would like to discuss any Elite products or services, please contact your Sales Representative."
The figures you see in search results are estimates. Software Finder prints $150 to $300 per user a month, $5,000 to $25,000 or more for implementation and $2,000 to $10,000 for training, all labeled estimated. Uptime Legal repeats the $150 to $300 range and credits "third-party estimates". A review on DigitalLogic says ProLaw starts at $5,200 as a one-time fee, undated and unsourced. None of them names where the number came from, so do not use any of them as a negotiating anchor.
The cost lines on a ProLaw deal
A ProLaw proposal is several bills from several sellers. This is what to expect on each, and which ones have a public price.
| Cost line | Who sets it | Published figure |
|---|---|---|
| ProLaw license or subscription | Elite order form | None. Sold as an up-front purchase in 2009; Elite's current terms are written as a term license billed annually |
| Annual Maintenance Plan | Elite | None. Required for direct support, knowledge base and updates |
| SQL Server (on premise) | Microsoft | Standard per core $3,945 per 2 core pack, 4 core minimum; or $989 per server plus $230 per user CAL |
| Windows Server, hardware, backup | Your IT provider | Varies; Uptime Legal says firms replace it roughly every 3 to 5 years |
| Private cloud hosting (instead of servers) | Hosting provider | Legal Cloud Services: $49 per user, license extra. Uptime Legal and Helm360: quote |
| Implementation, data conversion, training | Elite or a partner (Helm360, IID Groupe, Sophus) | None published |
| eBillingHub and other Elite add-ons | Elite order form | None published |
The licensing model matters more than the rate. In November 2009 Elite offered interest-free financing on ProLaw that "eases the financial burden of an up-front purchase by spreading quarterly payments over a three year period". That is perpetual licensing plus maintenance. Uptime Legal says both perpetual and subscription models have been offered since. If your quote is a subscription, the questions below about renewal are the ones that move the total.
What SQL Server adds to an on-premise ProLaw install
ProLaw keeps its data in Microsoft SQL Server, and hosting providers list Standard edition as the on-premise requirement. That license is yours to buy, and Microsoft prints the price. At SQL Server 2022 list ("open no-level price", US dollars), Standard per core is $3,945 per 2 core pack. Microsoft's licensing guidance requires "a minimum of four licenses per physical processor", and the same minimum applies per virtual machine.
- Per core, one four core server: 2 x $3,945 = $7,890, before Software Assurance.
- Server and CAL, 15 users: $989 + 15 x $230 = $4,439. At 20 users it is $5,589, and every hire adds $230.
- Subscription instead: $1,418 a year per 2 core pack, so $2,836 a year for four cores, every year.
Add Windows Server licensing, the server itself, backup hardware and software and a UPS. Uptime Legal, an Elite technology partner, lists exactly those items as the on-premise cost of ProLaw and says firms incur them "roughly every 3 to 5 years". Hosting providers usually fold SQL licensing into their monthly fee, which is the main reason firms move ProLaw to a private cloud.
What does ProLaw hosting cost?
Only one provider prints a number. Legal Cloud Services in Cromwell, Connecticut lists "Secure ProLaw in Cloud for Lawyers", including backup and disaster recovery, at $49 per user. That is hosting alone; you still license ProLaw from Elite. For a 15 person firm it comes to $735 a month, or $8,820 a year. Uptime Legal, which appears in Elite's partner directory, quotes hosting individually, as does Helm360.
Moving to a hosted setup is also the moment most firms clean up their data. A ProLaw contacts table that has run since the late 1990s usually holds the same client three or four times under slightly different names, and it is far cheaper to dedupe and normalize the exported contact files before a conversion than to pay a consultant to merge records afterwards.
What Elite's terms say about renewal and price increases
There are no ProLaw specific terms. Elite's Product Specific Terms cover eBillingHub, 3E Cloud and Always-on Time only, so a ProLaw order falls under the Elite US Master Terms dated July 1, 2025. These are the clauses that decide your budget.
| Clause | What it says | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| 3, Term | Each initial term renews automatically for one year unless either party gives at least six months notice | Diary the notice date the day you sign; miss it and you owe another year |
| 4.1, Invoicing | Invoiced annually from the start date, payable in 30 days, disputes within 15 days, late charge 1% a month | The whole year is due up front |
| 4.3, Changes to charges | Elite may increase charges for any renewal term on at least 90 days written notice | No cap is stated; negotiate one into the order form |
| 4.4, Excess use | Extra users charged at the order form rate or Elite's then current price, whichever is greater | Lock the per user rate for added seats in writing |
| 4.5, Changes of customer | On a merger, acquisition or reorganization, charges will be revised | A firm merger reopens the price |
| 10.1, Obsolescence | Elite may retire a service as a whole on six months notice, not during the initial term, with a pro rata refund | Ask what the roadmap is for ProLaw specifically |
| 10.6, Delete or return | Confidential information returned, deleted or destroyed on request | No export format or deadline; on premise you hold the database, hosted you need it in the hosting contract |
Is ProLaw still sold and supported?
Yes, but Elite no longer markets it. Elite ran a free ProLaw Virtual Summit for customers in May 2026, and in May 2024 it announced that Murphy & Grantland, a 27 attorney US firm, would adopt ProLaw along with eBillingHub. Its partner directory still lists ProLaw implementers and hosts. At the same time, ProLaw has no product page on elite.com, is missing from the site navigation and the trademark line, and the last public version announcement we found is ProLaw 2021.1. Elite's marketing is now 3E Cloud, and in August 2026 it said its cloud customers were on pace to outnumber on-premise ones by the end of the year.
None of that means ProLaw is going away. It does mean you should ask the sales representative for the roadmap in writing before signing a multi-year order, given clause 10.1.
ProLaw against midsize firm software that prints a price
For a 15 person firm, here is year one of the subscription at each vendor's own published rate, before implementation. ProLaw cannot sit in this table with a number, which is itself the comparison.
| Software | Published price | 15 users, year one |
|---|---|---|
| Elite ProLaw | Quote only, plus SQL Server or hosting | Unknown; hosting alone at $49 is $8,820 |
| CARET Legal | $79 / $99 / $119 per user a month, annual, plus implementation | $17,820 on Enterprise Plus |
| Tabs3 | Cloud from $89, OnSite from $69; PracticeMaster $35 / $32 | $16,020 on Cloud before PracticeMaster |
| CosmoLex | $49 / $99 / $129 per user a month | $23,220 on Pro (general ledger) |
| PracticePanther | $49 / $69 / $89 / $114 annual | $20,520 on Business Pro |
| Centerbase | Quote only | Unknown |
| Actionstep | Quote only, per user plus implementation | Unknown |
| CaseAgent | Flat per firm: Practice $449 a month billed yearly, up to 15 users | $5,388 |
Read it fairly. ProLaw's case is that it puts matter management, time and billing, trust and a full general ledger in one system a midsize firm has run for decades, and firms like Graham Law have stayed on it since the late 1990s. CaseAgent is not a general ledger. If accounting depth is the deciding factor, our law firm accounting software comparison covers the options. If you are leaving another legacy desktop system at the same time, the guide for firms leaving PCLaw and Time Matters walks through the same decision.
ProLaw pricing, other questions
How much does ProLaw cost per user?
Elite does not publish a per user price. The $150 to $300 per user a month quoted by Software Finder and repeated by Uptime Legal is labeled an estimate and cites no source, and ITQlick prints $120. Treat all three as unverified. The only per user number with a named seller is hosting: Legal Cloud Services lists ProLaw hosting at $49 per user, license not included.
Is ProLaw cloud based?
Not natively. ProLaw is server and desktop software that runs on Microsoft SQL Server and Windows Server. Elite does not run a ProLaw cloud. A firm that wants it off its own servers pays a hosting provider such as Uptime Legal, Helm360 or Legal Cloud Services to run it in a private cloud, which is a separate monthly bill.
Does ProLaw require SQL Server?
Yes. ProLaw stores its data in Microsoft SQL Server, and hosting providers list Standard edition as the on-premise requirement. At Microsoft list price, SQL Server 2022 Standard per core costs $3,945 per 2 core pack with a four core minimum, so $7,890 for one server, or $989 per server plus $230 per user on the Server and CAL model.
Who owns ProLaw now?
Elite owns ProLaw, and Francisco Partners owns Elite. West Group bought ProLaw in 2001, it became part of Thomson Reuters Elite, Thomson Reuters sold a majority of Elite to TPG in 2023, and Francisco Partners announced it would buy Elite from TPG and Thomson Reuters on August 5, 2025. The old Thomson Reuters ProLaw page now redirects to Elite support.
Can I cancel ProLaw before renewal?
Only with plenty of warning. Clause 3 of the Elite US Master Terms renews every agreement automatically for one year at a time unless either side gives at least six months notice before the term ends. Clause 4.3 lets Elite raise charges for a renewal term on 90 days written notice, with no cap stated.
Whatever runs the books, someone still has to read the file, draft the response and catch the deadline in the order that came in this morning. That is the part CaseAgent does, inside each matter, without a server to buy.
One price for the whole firm
A printed price, no SQL license and no six month notice window
CaseAgent reads each file, drafts letters, pleadings and discovery responses, builds the chronology with citations back to the page and keeps court deadlines current. Solo $149 a month, Firm $399 for up to 5 users, Practice $899 for up to 15, or $74, $199 and $449 a month billed yearly, with no setup fee and no per user charge.