4 ms·

Many universities and organisations in India are gearing towards outsourcing legal talent based on UK/US law and it seems only a matter of time before we see a

by babul 18y ago

Many universities and organisations in India are gearing towards outsourcing legal talent based on UK/US law and it seems only a matter of time before we see a boom in this area. This is occurring in both ends of the market from the personal-injury no-win-no-fee farms to the high-end specialist areas e.g. trademark law, intellectual property, copyright law, patents, company law etc. Initially, outsourced legal may start out as something that sucks (and initially do low-level/menial work), but over time will improve with each iteration/cycle to the point where legal outsourcing in India will be able to match its technology outsourcing model and actually be a viable option for US/UK companies. For many years I have thought a country like India is very well suited to outsource many service-based models in fields other than I.T. which require little physical asset (i.e. hardware and manufacturing cost) and rely more on intellectual talent and in this respect I think the guy may been on to something with the legal services aspect. However, as is a common reason for startup failure, his timing may be off. It seems the markets in the US/UK are not ready just yet. Just my $0.0000002.

supahfly_remix 18y ago
That's an interesting point. Are there legal impediments in place that prevent such outsourcing? I don't know the law on this. The American Bar Association is a very power organization, with the added detail that their members also happen to write the laws in this country.
- babul 18y ago
  Not that I know of. In the US/UK you need to be a member of the bar/law-society to practice as a lawyer/solicitor (i.e. represent clients) but there is no reason why the actual work itself cannot be outsourced. In fact most of the menial work in many law firms are done by juniors (new graduates) or legal-executives ("executives" being people who have little or no law qualification but are able to do the work). In my old firm (http://www.lawdit.co.uk http://www.lawdit.co.uk), which I setup years ago with my friends, this was and still is the case in many ways. I have seen the internals of many other leading firms (Allen & Overy, Ashurst, etc.) that also do this. Hence, regardless of how powerful the legal lobby against an uptake of such outsource practice, I dare say, the bottom-line and almighty dollar will win in many cases. After all, if you are getting the same/better quality at a lower cost and faster turn-around (3 people working on a task instead of 1) what would you do? The precedents have already been set in other fields/industries so I expect it will not cause as much furore as one might imagine and will probably start with the thin end of the wedge i.e. no-win-no-fee farms. Time will tell :)
  - supahfly_remix 18y ago
    Is a bar-member lawyer responsible for supervising the outsourced work? Can he be disbarred if something is done improperly? As an example, for outsourcing of public works projects, a professional engineer (PE) must supervise the project and is ultimately responsible for the project. That is to say, he would lose his license if the project were deemed injurious to the public, etc.
    - babul 18y ago
      Yes. Possibly, depends on what is done and went wrong. In U.S. we have a few people from Florida Bar who do most U.S. related clients. Most work undertaken in our U.K. offices with the usual pre/post reviews by the senior legal team/section-head to ensure accuracy, consistency, competency etc. but most of the menial tasks can be done by others. Everyone gains: juniors acquire skills and experience, seniors save time and can focus on other tasks. Of course no work is passed until signed off etc. etc. Legal businesses in U.K. are continously audited by Law Society and other auditors/regulatory bodies so everything conforms to set standards, hence nothing to worry about for clients in these respects etc. Hope that helps :)

by babul 18y ago

supahfly_remix 18y ago

That's an interesting point. Are there legal impediments in place that prevent such outsourcing? I don't know the law on this. The American Bar Association is a very power organization, with the added detail that their members also happen to write the laws in this country.

babul 18y ago
Not that I know of. In the US/UK you need to be a member of the bar/law-society to practice as a lawyer/solicitor (i.e. represent clients) but there is no reason why the actual work itself cannot be outsourced. In fact most of the menial work in many law firms are done by juniors (new graduates) or legal-executives ("executives" being people who have little or no law qualification but are able to do the work). In my old firm (http://www.lawdit.co.uk http://www.lawdit.co.uk), which I setup years ago with my friends, this was and still is the case in many ways. I have seen the internals of many other leading firms (Allen & Overy, Ashurst, etc.) that also do this. Hence, regardless of how powerful the legal lobby against an uptake of such outsource practice, I dare say, the bottom-line and almighty dollar will win in many cases. After all, if you are getting the same/better quality at a lower cost and faster turn-around (3 people working on a task instead of 1) what would you do? The precedents have already been set in other fields/industries so I expect it will not cause as much furore as one might imagine and will probably start with the thin end of the wedge i.e. no-win-no-fee farms. Time will tell :)
- supahfly_remix 18y ago
  Is a bar-member lawyer responsible for supervising the outsourced work? Can he be disbarred if something is done improperly? As an example, for outsourcing of public works projects, a professional engineer (PE) must supervise the project and is ultimately responsible for the project. That is to say, he would lose his license if the project were deemed injurious to the public, etc.
  - babul 18y ago
    Yes. Possibly, depends on what is done and went wrong. In U.S. we have a few people from Florida Bar who do most U.S. related clients. Most work undertaken in our U.K. offices with the usual pre/post reviews by the senior legal team/section-head to ensure accuracy, consistency, competency etc. but most of the menial tasks can be done by others. Everyone gains: juniors acquire skills and experience, seniors save time and can focus on other tasks. Of course no work is passed until signed off etc. etc. Legal businesses in U.K. are continously audited by Law Society and other auditors/regulatory bodies so everything conforms to set standards, hence nothing to worry about for clients in these respects etc. Hope that helps :)