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The resurgence of corporate legal process outsourcing

Editors — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:00:03 +0000

When examining whether legal process outsourcing (LPO)—or a particular LPO provider—fits a company’s legal needs, leaders should consider three key areas identified in a recent InsideCounsel article.

[via: The resurgence of corporate legal process outsourcing at InsideCounsel]

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Legal Outsourcing: Is the Bloom Already off the Rose?

Editors — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:04:48 +0000

Things are tough all over in the legal world these days, with even those pesky offshore outsourcing outfits likely to see a profitability squeeze, according to this 2012 outlook issued Friday from Fronterion , a group that tracks such matters for law firms. One problem the report identified: wages are rising in developing countries such as India (per this projection from Aon Hewitt) but remain relatively soft here in the U.S. and the U.K. That could hamper profitability for the legal process outsource (LPO) industry as a whole—something unlikely to bring tears to the eyes of job-hunting young lawyers stateside. So what’s the problem? The price gap has narrowed between offshore legal processing groups—which charge between $25-$35 an hour for basic legal services such as document review—and domestic services offered by contract review attorneys in places such as the Midwest, which might charge $25 to $30 per hour. (Here Fronterion cites our own Vanessa O’Connell’s piece this June on lawyer temps). The glut of new law school graduates in 2012 will likely put offshore legal services outfits at a further disadvantage, the report found. “Most legal professionals, all things being equal, prefer to keep legal work domestically,” it said. In response, some offshore vendors are opening up in places such as Chicago and Washington D.C., said Fronterion managing Principal Michael Bell. But the news ain’t all bad on the outsourcing front. Fronterion predicts that as law firms get more comfortable with the use of legal outsourcing, vendors will go beyond litigation support to offer other services, such as contract management or due diligence on mergers and acquisition transactions. Still, sharks loom. The analysis forecast more competition as legal outsourcing becomes more accepted. Staffing firms and discovery vendors with deep pockets and established reputations will want in on the action, it said. So will law firms with their own in-house versions of outsourcing centers like those that Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe set up in Wheeling, W. Va. “Law firms say, we can hire these contract attorneys in the U.S. for really nothing,” Bell said. “One issue that law firms have is that they can’t mark up the services of an LPO… but if it’s a center based internally and it’s law firm staff, they can charge whatever they want to.”

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Who Will Decide the Future of the Law Business?

Editors — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 09:04:53 +0000

Mark Harris, who runs legal services provider Axiom, is pretty sure he knows the answer.

[via: Who Will Decide the Future of the Law Business? at the American Lawyer]

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Legal Outsourcing and “The Rise of the Non-Firm Firms”

Editors — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:27:18 +0000

Will the growth of non-firm firms (NFFs) lead more traditional firms (TFs) to say “WTF?”. More importantly, what will the increasing proliferation of NFFs mean for law department management in the coming years? Certainly a trend that requires close monitoring – terms such as “legal outsourcing” and “legal process outsourcing” are rapidly evolving.

I want to talk about an important trend in legal services, the emergence of the “Non-Firm Firm.” What is a “non-firm firm,” and why does it have advantages over the traditional firm? Let’s look at five characteristics of the non-firm firm (let’s call them NFFs) and contrast them with the traditional firms (TFs).

[via: The Rise of the Non-Firm Firms at the ABA Journal]

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Is Your New York Law Firm Outsourcing Legal Work to India?

Editors — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 03:41:48 +0000

Where is your legal work really being performed?

[via Are NY Law Firms Outsourcing Legal Work to India? One Admits It, One Denies It - News - ABA Journal.]

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Legal Outsourcing Companies in India Now Correcting Grammar of Am Law 100 Firms

Editors — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:18:39 +0000

Looking for legal work and not having luck in the United States? LegalBlogWatch may have the solution for you:

Are you an excellent writer and proofreader, but presently unable to break into the Big Law world in the U.S.? Then get yourself over to India, where legal process outsourcing companies reportedly have found a new niche: correcting the grammar of U.S. attorneys.

[via Legal Outsourcing Companies in India Now Correcting Grammar of Am Law 100 Firms @ Legal Blog Watch

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Rio Tinto in Legal Outsourcing Deal to India

Editors — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:47:06 +0000

For those tracking legal outsourcing deals, another entry for your books:

Jersey-based CPA Global are providing a team of 12 Delhi-based lawyers to handle tasks such as contract review, drafting and legal research – in a move projected to reduce Rio Tinto's annual legal spend by 20%. The company estimates that the new India venture, which became operational on 1 May, will be seven times cheaper than its lawyers in London.

The Delhi-based team is expected to double in size within a year. Although Rio Tinto is currently going through a cost-cutting procedure which is expected to lead to significant job losses, there are no current plans to reduce headcount in the existing 100-strong global legal group.

via Rio Tinto seals deal to outsource legal work to India- Legalweek.

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ABA Gives Thumbs Up to Legal Outsourcing

Law.com — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:28:09 +0000

The American Bar Association has waded into the debate over legal outsourcing with an ethics opinion blessing the outsourcing trend as “a salutary one for our globalized economy.” Companies operating in India — the most popular destination for legal outsourcing because it has a common-law system and English is widely spoken — were quick to hail the advisory by the ABA’s ethics committee as a major step forward for their nascent industry.

Law.com – ABA Gives Thumbs Up to Legal Outsourcing

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Legal Salaries on the Rise (In India)

Editors — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:02:31 +0000

Will Bangalore and Hyderabad become the new hot spots for in-house counsel job searches?

Now in Demand, New Lawyers in India Get Higher Salary Offers | ABA Journal – Law News Now

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GCs Embrace Outsourced Work

Law.com — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:25:37 +0000

High rates and the increasing bulk of e-discovery have pushed Scott Rickman, the associate general counsel at Del Monte Foods, to seriously consider using sources other than his outside law firm for the grunt work of litigation. “It doesn’t make sense to pay 150 or 250 dollars an hour at some of the larger firms to do the document review — it just seems like overkill,” said Rickman. Other in-house departments have already reached that conclusion.

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