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Legal Process Outsourcing -
for corporations & law firms
Legal Outsourcing is a growing
area. Law firms and corporate legal departments
are using outsourcing their legal work to India.
According to a recent study,
India has huge potential in legal outsourcing,
with the number of jobs in the field increasing
to 79,000 by 2015, a study by an American
research firm has said.
Though India had earned over over
$6.7 billion in US-based outsourcing services
such as software and call centers till March
2005, the field of legal outsourcing was largely
untapped, the study conducted by Forrester said.
The study estimated that jobs in the field which
was poised to increase dramatically from about
$80 million annually to approximately $4 billion,
would grow to 29,000 in 2008, 35,000 by 2010, and
79,000 by 2015.
At present the number of jobs in legal
outsourcing in India stood less than 12,000, it
said.
Outsourcing would reduce costs for US
customers as the the rates for Indian
legal workers were about 10 to 20 per cent of
their American counterparts.
"Indian outsourcing offers the following
economic advantages: A significant wage
differential. There are also savings in perks,
overhead, and working conditions," the study
said adding time zone differences allowed for
overnight and 24x7 operations.
So far, the legal services work consisted of paralegal,
secretarial, and litigation support.
However, according to the financial consulting
firm, Fulcrum Financial Inquiry, Indian firms now
offered more valuable services, including contract
review and monitoring, document review for due
diligence, patent drafting, simple filings and
legal research.
However, the study said these advantages were not
without challenges, but none insurmountable.
The most important challenges to legal
outsourcing to India included concerns about data
security, conflict of interest rules, and the
need for Indian lawyers to pass US bar
examinations.
Interestingly, the need for India-based lawyers
was being addressed through American law schools
and immigration policies.
Legal talent was being schooled in the US, but
American education visas allowed these students
to stay in the country for only a short time
after graduation. Many who studied in the US came
back to work for legal outsourcers, the study
said.
It said more than 200,000 Indians graduate from
law schools each year, five times more than in
the US.
Participants in the study included law firms,
in-house law departments of multinational firms
like GE, Bayer and outsourcers having a legal
group.
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