Legal outsourcing From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily

with India and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Pleaseimprove this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (June 2012) It has been suggested that this article be merged into Outsourcing. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2012. Legal outsourcing, also known as legal process outsourcing (LPO) refers to the practice of a law firm or corporation obtaining legal support services from an outside law firm or legal support services company (LPO provider). When the LPO provider is based in another country the practice is called offshoring and involves the practice of outsourcing any activity except those where personal presence or contact is required e.g. appearances in court and face-to-face negotiations. When the LPO provider is based in the same country the practice of outsourcing includes agency work and other services requiring a physical presence such as court appearances.[1] This process is one of the incidents of the larger movement towards outsourcing. The most commonly offered services have been agency work, document review,[2] legal research and writing,[3] drafting of pleadings and briefs,[4] and patent services.[5] This phenomenon has been a part of the legal experience since the 1950s, where it was restricted only to patents.[6] Later, firms began to contract certain services to back door firms. The process of subcontracting part of the legal process to different countries is at a nascent stage, with relatively consistent market growth. [7] Legal process outsourcing has predominantly been to countries that had previously taken advantage of the business process

outsourcing wave. LPO providers have established themselves in Canada,[1] India,[8] the Philippines,[9] the United States,Israel[10] and Latin America.[11] Contents [hide]
o o

1 Overview 1.1 Reasons 2 Advantages 2.1 LPO industry and the Global Financial Crisis 3 Criticisms 4 New Frontiers in Legal Outsourcing 5 References

Overview[edit] The concept of legal process outsourcing is based on the division of labour principle, prevalent in law firms, where various time consuming and onerous processes like due diligence are delegated to paralegals, document reviewers or interns.[12] This allows the firm to address the various legal issues that arise on a daily basis while being able to streamline productivity. The process involves a contract, with due consideration, between both firms. The following are the various methods by which the process could be initiated:[13]

Direct Contract This is the most straight forward means of establishing contact. The firm needing legal services directly approaches the legal process outsourcing vendor. Managed Outsourcing This is a case where the firm establishes contact with a legal process outsourcing vendor

and retains a traditional law firm to coordinate the vendor's activities and to ensure quality control.

Required Outsourcing This form of outsourcing occurs when the firm mandates a certain level of outsourcing in the legal process, either to reduce costs or to fulfill statutory requirements. Multi-sourcing This involves segregating the work assigned to LPO providers in order to reduce risk and take advantage of each provider's strengths. This approach is helpful is cases where expertise is required on matters of jurisdiction and merits. Having more than one provider "on deck" also allows a service recipient to obtain more favorable pricing. On the other hand, multi-sourcing can be more complicated than other approaches. Successfully managing multiple, competing providers requires strong and effective governance procedures.[14]

Reasons[edit] Among the leading proponents of this process have been corporate clients concerned with rising legal expenses. The legal departments of corporations began using the services of such providers. Soon these corporations began to pressure their legal representatives to outsource certain legal processes to cut costs.
[15]

Advantages[edit] Most firms and corporations outsource primarily to save cash, and this is considered the biggest advantage for legal outsourcing. While an attorney in major legal markets such as the US may charge from $150 to $500 per hour when performing rote services, legal process outsourcing firms generally charge a small fraction of that price. It has attracted major corporations to outsource specific work outside their legal departments. Many destinations for outsourcing have benefited from the upsurge in

bankruptcies and litigations that have occurred in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis.[16][17] As reported in the ABA Journal, "[t]he market for outsourced legal work is booming in India. While lawyers there are doing a lot of routine work, they are also handling some interesting legal matters, including work for the makers of movies and television shows."[18] As stated in USA Today, "'[y]ou could call it "Outsourcing 2.0" or maybe even "3.0." Now firms are increasingly trying to leverage expertise,' says Saikat Chaudhuri, an assistant professor in the business school at the University of Pennsylvania. Legal Outsourcing is 'growing very, very quickly.'"[19] LPO industry and the Global Financial Crisis[edit] LPO firms in India had predicted an annual growth of 200% due to recession related litigation and the increased need to save costs in the US. Their expectations have not been met.[20] The major reason for this is that US lawyers themselves have started looking at alternative fee structures due to the recession and job losses. [21] In spite of setbacks, the LPO industry has seen growth of about 40-60% in the last year.[citation needed] Although some areas of practice, such as real estate, have drastically collapsed due to the recession, some areas such as litigation, document review, and corporate compliance have gained ground, resulting in business directed to LPO firms in India.

Snapshot of the size and growth of the Legal Outsourcing/LPO market as of 2012. Criticisms[edit]

One of the major concerns with outsourcing is the potential for breaches of client confidentiality. In legal process outsourcing the issue of client confidentiality assumes utmost importance. The attorneyclient privilege is a doctrine that says anything conveyed between an attorney and his client shall be treated with utmost confidentiality and is exempted from disclosure even in a court of law. However, when either party discloses confidential information to a third party or the opposite party, the privilege is deemed to be waived. During the early years of legal process outsourcing, many law firms hesitated to outsource their work. [22] Critics and opponents state that, since communication is being sent to a country other than United States, the confidentiality is broken; hence, the attorney client privilege has been waived. However, American Bar Association clarified this in 2008, clearing the way for the development of legal process outsourcing.[23][full
citation needed]

Another criticism is that people performing legal work may not be bound to necessary ethical standards.[24] The process of Legal Outsourcing has come in conflict with the Model Code of Conduct issued by the American Bar Association.[25] However, there have been ethics opinions from various local bar associations (New York,[26] San Diego[27]) and recently the American Bar Association[28] that discuss ethical legal outsourcing and how to achieve it. New Frontiers in Legal Outsourcing[edit] India is considered to be a major destination for legal outsourcing due to its availability of affordable English-speaking lawyers, some of whom are UK and/or US educated, and due to a legal system that is based on English common law. Recently, new frontiers for legal outsourcing have emerged in geographic areas closer to their target client markets. Other established LPO providers can be found in Argentina, Australia, China, France, the Philippines, Singapore, and South Korea, each offering unique

advantages concomitant with their distinctive geographic location, language capabilities and regional expertise. Argentina, by way of example, is an increasingly desirable LPO centre for the U.S. client market due to its proximity in terms of its western hemisphere location, time zone similarity, and cultural ties to the United States.[29][30] Sri Lanka, as an additional example, is an Indian competitor[31] whose success has come from a familiarity with British law, a strong economic infrastructure, online freedom, and marketing by Indian policymakers.[32] LPO providers in India and in these new frontiers are increasingly utilizing onshore and offshore US and UK-licensed attorneys as part of their outsourcing offering[33] as a means to create greater quality controls, expand into more sophisticated offerings, and instill higher confidence in the ethical treatment of client sensitive data.
[34]

Why Infosys LPO? Operational excellence Global Delivery Model (GDM) Scalability Technology multipliers Alliances Best-in-class management practices Domain expertise Client satisfaction LPO Academy Employer of choice Infrastructure Financial stability Why Infosys LPO? Operational excellence

Infosys LPO achieves operational excellence by implementing proven methodologies and frameworks. We do this through quality control, training excellence and productivity improvements that provide clients with reliable consistency, innovation and customization of services to provide them value for money. Global Delivery Model (GDM) Infosys pioneered the GDM to ensure the distribution of application and business process lifecycle activities and resources, while ensuring their integration through key drivers such as processes, quality, tools, knowledge management, program management and risk mitigation. Scalability Infosys LPO has a proven ability to ramp up or down as per client requirements to weather project peaks and troughs. Technology multipliers Infosys has a strong technology heritage, and has more than 100 tools that are applicable to client engagements to improve customer experience and business performance. Alliances Infosys LPO has invested in partnerships and alliances with bestof-breed technology companies. Best-in-class management practices Some of the certifications / assurances that form a part of Infosys Risk Portfolio include SAS70 Type I and II (Audits) / TR19:2005 and ISO27001 / FISAP. Further, Infosys BPO has earned the highest rating, Level 5, for the e-Sourcing Capability Model (eSCMSP: v2.0) by Carnegie Mellon University's IT Services Qualification Center (ITSqc). Infosys LPO is continuously strengthening its quality and security standards in order to address sensitive needs of its clients. Domain expertise

In addition to leveraging Infosys well-established vertical and technology expertise, Infosys consulting arm allows our LPO practice to undertake complex assignments in the area of banking and finance. Client satisfaction Infosys has been successfully providing services, as a trusted partner, to more than 690 clients over the past 30 years. 97.8% of our revenues come from existing customers proof that we take pride in building strategic long-term client relationships. We have a proven track record of incubating and developing market leadership positions for newer services in response to client requirements. Infosys LPO also understands the sensitivity of client data and has put robust controls in place to ensure data security. LPO Academy Infosys LPO has a one-of-a-kind, dedicated in-house training and certification program on domain knowledge, soft skills, process, and technical expertise to deliver end-to-end business solutions. Employer of choice Infosys has been consistently ranked as a leading employer in India and is able to attract and retain the best talent at competitive salary levels. Infrastructure Infosys has a global footprint with 65 offices and 74 development centers in the U.S., India, China, Australia, Japan, Middle East, the U.K., Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Poland, Canada, and many other countries. Financial stability Zero-debt company with rock solid financial stability. Infosys is a US$ 6.9 billion company with a market capitalization in excess of US$ 41.7 billion.

Share on twitterShare on facebookShare on linkedin More Sharing Services Intellectual Property (IP) Services

Infosys LPO offers a wide range of intellectual property services to support legal teams of global corporations. With real-time processes that are highly structured and effectively monitored, we can help you manage intangible assets in a smooth, efficient, and accurate manner. Our intellectual property team includes qualified, experienced engineers and attorneys. These experts can help you streamline your IP practices across the intellectual property lifecycle from patent searching and portfolio management to strategic patent advisory services. Our services You can leverage our niche skill sets and evolved processes across four stages of the patent lifecycle:

Conception: We assess and establish the novelty of your idea from an intellectual-property perspective.

Invention disclosure assessments Prior art searches Patentability/novelty analysis State-of-the-art searches Idea generation analysis Protection: We aid the process of patenting your idea and enabling exclusive rights of usage for your organizations inventor(s).

Patent drafting provisional and regular Patent prosecution services Creation of initial invention disclosures (IID) Patent illustrations Patent proofreading Patent translations E-filing and docketing services Enforcement: In order to recover the investment costs in obtaining IP rights, we provide support to enforce patents as part of a client's defensive or offensive strategy. Invalidity analysis Infringement analysis Claims construction and mapping analysis Freedom-to-operate searches IP litigation support services Management: We help you consistently track your competitors' IP, so that you can strategize on your own thus creating a competitive edge in your industry. Competitive landscape analysis White space analysis Patent portfolio management Technology watch IP monetization support services IP licensing support services IP due-diligence support services

Offerings Overview Services Solutions

Share on twitterShare on facebookShare on linkedin More Sharing Services Legal Research Infosys LPO provides customized and cost-efficient legal research solutions to global corporations and law firms like yours. Our services enable you to formulate vital business decisions, and we are committed towards serving as an extension of your legal departments. In essence, becoming a one-stop shop for all your legal research requirements. Our team of experienced attorneys executes both simple and complex legal research, including litigation and non-litigation tasks. They are adept at using key legal research databases such as LexisNexis / Westlaw, and are well versed in standard citation formats (like Bluebook) for citing references. Our services

Legal research and drafting Conduct legal research on laws addressing issues presented by the client pertaining to litigation and/or non-litigation areas Draft legal memorandum discussing and citing laws addressing issues presented by the client Compliance support Pre-compliance monitoring Conduct legal research to track the Federal, State and local legislations / regulations related to banking, trust, securities trading, real estate, and other areas of law for U.S. and worldwide jurisdictions Track legislative actions / bills impacting clients existing and new businesses / operations with regard to U.S. and worldwide jurisdictions Compliance implementation

Identify, analyze and document requirements contained in the existing, amended and / or new law to effect amendments in clients plan policies, procedures, forms, and correspondence Review forms and other legal documents provided by client for meeting compliance with laws of specific jurisdiction(s), and document-related requirements in the desired format(s) Conduct legal research for contract compliance Multi-jurisdiction / risk-assessment surveys Conduct multi-jurisdiction surveys, including 50 U.S. state law surveys and surveys on laws of international jurisdictions Conduct legal surveys to identify potential sources of risk Conduct legal surveys for determining liabilities / obligations Contract Lifecycle Management Services In a highly complex and competitive marketplace, stronger performance from your contract management teams can help you realize better business outcomes. Even as workloads increase and staff budgets reduce, your teams are expected to close contract negotiations faster and manage risks more effectively. To help you achieve your goals, we at Infosys LPO have designed a total solution that weaves together best practice consulting, services and technology. So your team operates more efficiently, in addition to playing a more strategic role in your enterprises business. Our offerings Best-practice consulting To help you achieve a higher level of performance, domain experts at Infosys LPO will assess and document your current processes, interview your stakeholders, and evaluate your level of automation. We provide recommendations for process improvements based on your unique set of business requirements and best-in-class benchmarking.

Services Our service offerings empower your teams to do more with less at each stage of the contract lifecycle. This will help free your teams from repetitive administrative tasks, which can represent as much as 30% of their time. Creation and negotiation

Draft, redline, and negotiate agreements which are high in volume and less complex Create and maintain standard template agreements and contract clause libraries Execution and approval Prepare and distribute all necessary documentation for internal approvals and ensure contract execution Post-contract administration Abstract and upload contracts into the contract repository with supporting documentation Perform contract repository management create files, alerts, renewals, and generate reports Document, track, and report contractual obligations Perform risk analysis deviation from standard terms, regulatory compliance, revenue recognition, and liability exposure Due diligence around merger and acquisition (M&A) Assess value and risk with abstraction of key terms Administer integration of incoming contracts with systems, processes, and standards Conduct analysis for renegotiation Technology

Our Next-Generation Contract Lifecycle Management Software is an enterprise-class contract management system that supports all organizational contracts including sell-side, buy-side and legal. With this software, you can easily create, manage and search contracts, while collaborating with teams to negotiate contract details. Next-Generation Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software If youre looking to effectively manage the contracting process across your organization, you can take charge with Infosys NextGeneration Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software. Using the tools and processes on offer, you can centralize contracts and provide visibility to your business users. Our solution will also take you closer to your goals enforcing compliance, leveraging volume discounts, effectively managing obligations, reducing contract risk and chances of litigation. We can help you make full use of your contracts and leverage business-critical information negotiated into contracts. Our solution Infosys Next-Generation Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software is an enterprise-class contract management system that supports all organizational contracts including sell-side, buyside and legal. Key features

Easy-to-execute contracts that enable effective contract management A unified searchable contract repository to store and retrieve contracts and its associated documents A collaborative environment for teams to negotiate and author contracts, extract contract summary and key clauses, send and receive alerts on obligations, and process contract renewals

Benefits Centralize organization-wide contracting process

A unified searchable secure repository for contracts and associated documents, including legacy contracts and newly created contracts Comprehensive flexible contract summary or abstract for easy information retrieval Multi-channel mailroom process to receive contracts across locations and multiple formats Effectively reduce time to author contracts by leveraging Microsoft Word interface with contract authoring custom add-ons, clause and template libraries Management of all contracts (buy, sell and legal) from the central repository Collaboration features to improve the negotiation process (both internally and externally) Enforce compliance and best practices Standardize contracting processes (including contact clauses and templates) to adhere to corporate norms, best practices and industry / regulatory framework Policy-driven workflows for contract execution based on contract value, contract type and risk Role-based security and control access rights to both internal and counter-party users Improve efficiency and savings Increase savings by bringing more spend under contract and increasing contract compliance Decrease administrative, dispute and operational costs by setting up timely alerts and notifications

Identify revenue opportunities through better management of contracts and historical data Improve contract efficiency through lower contract cycle times, improved internal collaboration and policy-driven contract authoring Manage obligations and risk Improve client / supplier satisfaction by extracting, tracking and managing contractual obligations and SLAs Comprehensively manage contractual risk in the right manner at various levels clause, contract and organizational Assign and manage tasks to comply with contractual obligations and risks

Infosys - Longevity of LPO's Regardless of the future of the worldwide economy, LPOs are here to stay. Due to my somewhat unique background as a general counsel and trial lawyer, with over three decades of experience prior to becoming the delivery head for Infosys legal process outsourcing (LPO), I would like to share my perspective on the longevity of LPOs. It is my belief that, regardless of the future of the worldwide economy, LPOs are here to stay. For most companies, reducing costs while concomitantly increasing value and quality has become the norm. General Counsels will continue receiving pressure from their CEOs, CFOs and COOs to reduce their budgets, regardless of the economic forecast. After all, they

are not in the business of litigating. In response, many general counsels have turned to the use of LPOs either directly or imposing it upon their outside law firms. Why should they even consider going back to the old days, when they paid substantially more for the same legal services that they are now receiving at reduced rates that are allowing them to conform to the budgetary constraints that are becoming a way of life? Unfortunately, large law firms have a notorious reputation for not providing much bang for the buckto their clients. Additionally, outsourcing their legal work provides companies with the opportunity to keep more of their legal work in-house, so long as they are willing to make the commitment to closely supervise the work being outsourced. More and more clients are requesting, or even demanding, alternatives to the hourly rate. These can take several forms, including blended rates, value adjusted rates, fixed fees and flat fees. There is no reason to believe that companies that have seen the benefits to be derived from paying their lawyers other than on a straight hourly rate will revert back solely to such a billing model. In order to increase their profits, law firms will be driven to reduce their costs under such alternative fee structures as their clients pressure mounts. This will incentivise law firms to outsource at least a portion of their work. Moreover, as alternative fee structures become ever more prevalent, clients will become further entrenched in their view that costs and expenses must continue to be reduced a view that they will impose upon their law firms. Many companies are already comfortable using business process outsourcing. By doing so, they have been able to glean the benefits of increased value and efficiency through the use of qualified individuals residing in inexpensive offshore venues. As their numbers increase together, presumably, with their satisfaction with the value being attained, they will be more receptive to the idea of LPO. As to law firms, the law is a profession and must always be treated as such; it is the foundation of who we are and how we conduct ourselves. Notwithstanding that, lawyers are increasingly becoming aware of

the fact that law firms must be run more like a business. That includes acknowledging the benefits to be derived from the strategic use of LPOs. By doing so, the law firms send the message back to their clients that they have heard their cries to reduce costs and increase value and will work as partners to achieve them. In return, those law firms utilising LPOs will see an increase in work, and therefore revenue, from their clients. Even work that previously would not have been sent to outside counsel may now be considered within their purview if the use of LPOs sufficiently reduces the cost to the client. Once a law firm develops a reputation for providing lower costs and greater value through the use, among other things, of LPOs, it should also see the ranks of its clients begin to swell. The utilisation of LPOs also has the potential of increasing the productivity of both corporate legal departments and law firms. By outsourcing some of the more mundane legal work, their own lawyers can be freed up to focus their attention on more substantial and complex legal matters. With respect to law firms, these are the sorts of matters that can justify the fees they are charging and for which they will receive less grief from their clients. LPOs also provide the opportunity to level the playing field for both small companies and small law firms, and even sole practitioners. Smaller companies and law firms alike can utilise LPOs to ramp up for particular matters and to meet tight deadlines on labour intensive projects requiring a large commitment of personnel, even though they themselves may lack the manpower or expertise to match the larger companies and law firms. LPOs can thus be used as a buffer against being inundated and overwhelmed by large corporations and law firms. LPOs can provide round-the-clock operations, which is further augmented by the time difference, for example, between India and the US. While western lawyers are understandably loathe to work under such conditions, LPOs can provide teams of lawyers working throughout the day. Thus, time constraints become less of an issue for both in-house legal departments and law firms, while

delivery times in general are reduced. Both in-house legal departments and law firms can also utilise LPOs to provide both onshore and offshore assets. This provides them with the flexibility to respond to specific projects or to the direct needs, constraints and parameters imposed by clients. It further makes available to them global knowledge, experience and information to which they may not otherwise have access. LPOs also provide both corporate law departments and law firms with the opportunity to utilise technology in a somewhat pain-free environment. The LPOs, several of which are derivatives of information technology outsourcing, tend to make extensive use of technology and processes. Many lawyers, on the other hand, have historically been technology averse. The lawyers that are responsible for directly overseeing the work being performed, if not already familiar with the technology being used, will be required to gain an understanding of it so that they can carry out their oversight obligations. Through outsourcing some of their legal work, lawyers can see firsthand the benefits that can accrue to their practices from the use of specific technology and processes which technology and processes are to be embraced rather than avoided. LPOs are not a panacea for everything that ails the legal profession. Corporate legal departments and law firms must make a strong commitment to evaluate both the benefits that will inure to them as well as the specific entities that will provide the LPO services. There are many potential pitfalls-many arising from the very fact that lawyers are professionals subject to codes of conduct and ethics - including, but not limited to: supervising the work; the quality of the work; potential ethical issues; training; weaknesses in soft skills; language and cultural disparities; and, statutory bars. But, if done properly, there is no denying the benefits that can flow from the use of LPOs benefits that, rather than disappearing anytime soon, should be growing as LPOs mature. Author Bio Ira Jeffrey Bornstein has over 30 years of legal experience as a trial and appellate lawyer and as a general counsel. As a trial lawyer, he handled multi-million dollar

lawsuits, arbitrations and appeals on both the federal and state level, all the way up to the Supreme Court of the United States. He argued, and won, the case of Bendix Autolite Corp. v. Midwesco Enterprises, Inc., one of the seminal Commerce Clause cases heard by the Supreme Court in the last quarter century. He has also argued before both the Colorado and Illinois Supreme Courts. He has tried both jury and bench trials covering most types of complex commercial matters, including construction, contract, corporate, real estate, partnership, employment, insurance, intellectual property, business torts, franchising, law firm dissolution, securities, antitrust, stockholder and derivative suits, professional malpractice and class actions. He also acted for several years as General Counsel for Gorsuch, Ltd. He is licensed to practice law in Colorado, Illinois and New York and before numerous federal district courts and courts of appeal. He has been rated for several decades AV, the highest rating available, by Martindale Hubbell. He currently works as Delivery Head for Infosys LPO where his key responsibilities include performing program toll-gate reviews relating to the practice. He is directly responsible for US and UK project deliverables, process compliance and thought leadership. Sophisticated sourcing professionals are introducing innovative sourcing solutions to their legal departments, and in doing so, delivering millions of dollars in savings. Successful collaboration between sourcing and legal can manifest itself in many ways (e.g., exploring alternative supplier models, introducing alternative fee arrangements, issuing RFPs, introducing supplier competition through e-auctions). Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) is among the beneficiaries of strategic interactions between sourcing and legal. Introducing an outsider perspective (i.e., sourcing) can often help drive legal department conversations away from How can we preserve what we have? and towards How can we continue to capitalize on opportunities in the legal marketplace?

The media is gradually beginning to pick up on these successes: a recent article in the Wall Street Journal noted that several companies (including GlaxoSmithKline, Toyota, Sun Microsystems, and eBay) are using competitive bidding and eauctions to purchase legal services. As with other important services, effectively sourcing legal is a delicate process with major upside. Compared to a few years ago, legal sourcing is now an area where I see major companies investing. Doing legal sourcing properly does require a real investment. Its not a category where you can watch a few episodes of Law and Order and fake it, notes Justin Ergler of GlaxoSmithKline Legal Services Procurement, a rising star in this emerging field. Legal services are highly complex, sensitive, and high-risk; supply management professionals face the difficult challenge of building credibility in the legal department and moving along a steep learning curve without losing sight of short-term savings goals. In spite of these difficulties, savvy sourcing and procurement departments are earning the appreciation of their legal colleagues and guiding meaningful change in their legal departments. Potential Benefits to Including Sourcing in Legal Projects: 1. Tools to Facilitate Rigorous Provider Selection: Leading sourcing departments typically have tools and processes (e.g., RFPs, e-auction technology) that can simplify the legal sourcing process. When customized appropriately, these tools can help

legal departments obtain greater visibility into their provider network while collecting decision-grade data from alternative providers. 2. Exposure to a Wide Range of Provider Models: Seasoned sourcing professionals tend to have experience across a range of categories and service areas. While not all of these experiences will translate directly to success in legal, sourcing professionals are often well-positioned to see opportunities for increased efficiency within legal provider models. Detachment from Long-Standing Provider Relationships: Sourcing professionals are typically not burdened by professional or personal relationships with legal service providers. This outsider status can be appealing when communicating competitive sourcing initiatives to potential and existing providers.

3.

Definition: Legal process outsourcing or LPO is the exporting of legal services to low-wage markets overseas. An increasing number of companies, large and small, are outsourcing legal work to destinations across the globe.

A number of factors have fueled the legal process outsourcing trend, including:

Globalization Economic changes and the rising cost of legal services The growth of the Internet Increased automation of legal processes Developments in data security New technology tools Beyond cost savings, legal process outsourcing offers many advantages including access to outside talent, round-the-clock availability, and the ability to quickly scale up or cut back operations. India is currently the largest LPO destination. Like the U.S. and the U.K., India's legal system is grounded in British common law. And, unlike China, which is emerging as an offshoring center, English is the language of instruction in Indian colleges and law schools. India also boasts one of the largest pools of English-speaking graduates in the world. Low labor cost is another major factor in sourcing work to India. In addition, India possesses a large, highly-qualified labor pool. Many Indian legal service vendors require a college degree as a bare minimum to employment. Most employees - even data entry workers - possess a graduate degree and most legal employees possess a law degree. Legal process outsourcing is occurring in nearly all sectors of the legal industry. The work of lawyers, paralegals, legal secretaries and litigation support

personnel is increasingly being performed by legal service providers on the other side of the globe.

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Ads Jobs Dubaijobrapido.com/jobs+dubai5 urgent positions left. Apply now! Jobs Dubai Sourcing Companywww.hktdc.comConnect with over 120,000 suppliers from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan The median annual salary of a lawyer in the United States is around $95,000. The median annual salary of a lawyer in India is around $20,000 per year. This significant salary differential is prompting a growing number of U.S. employers to export legal work to lowwage, developing countries overseas. The transfer of legal services to overseas markets, called Legal Process Offshoring (LPO), is a growing trend in the legal industry.

U.S. firms and corporations are embracing LPO as an effective and efficient way to reduce legal costs. The Growth of Legal Process Offshoring The advent of the Internet, increased automation of legal processes, developments in data security, new technology tools, economic changes and the availability of well-educated low-cost foreign labor have combined to instigate and energize the LPO phenomenon. Legal Processing Offshoring is occurring in nearly all sectors of the legal services industry. The work of lawyers, paralegals, legal secretaries and litigation support personnel is increasingly being performed by legal service providers on the other side of the globe. Legal Secretarial and Administrative Functions Legal secretarial tasks and repetitive legal administrative functions, termed back office operations, were one of the first functions exported to low-wage markets. As data processing, customer service and call centers sprung up across foreign landscapes, legal secretarial tasks soon joined the ranks of exported commodities. The range of secretarial and administrative services provided by offshore back office operations is growing by an estimated 20% annually as developed countries seek to lower costs by outsourcing routine office functions. Legal secretarial tasks outsourced overseas include data entry, proofreading, legal transcription, simple filings, cite-checking and remote secretarial services.

Litigation Support Functions The advent of e-discovery and changes in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have encouraged the offshoring of high-volume, labor-intensive litigation support functions . In fact, litigation support functions are the bread and butter of many foreign legal service vendors. In lieu of paying armies of high-priced U.S. attorneys and paralegals to code and review millions of discovery documents, highly trained workforces overseas perform the work at a fraction of the cost. Typical litigation support tasks performed by overseas legal service providers include imaging, scanning, coding, abstracting, indexing, data entry and document review. Lawyer Functions The work of lawyers is not immune to the offshoring phenomenon. Overseas legal service vendors are performing sophisticated legal tasks formerly reserved for high-priced U.S. attorneys. Technological tools such as the internet, electronic legal research, e-mail, text messaging and remote document retrieval make it easy for lawyers to communicate across the globe. Complex legal research, due diligence, contract management and negotiation, appellate briefs and research, and intellectual property services are among the legal tasks being exported to low-wage markets, where attorney rates are as little as 1/30th the cost of U.S. lawyers. Paralegal Functions Legal processing outsourcing is also making an impact on the paralegal industry. In India and other low-cost markets, paralegals earn between $6 and $8 an hour,

compared with the $20+ an hour earned by their U.S. counterparts. A study at the University of California at Berkeleycites the paralegal field as one of the top occupations most at risk of being outsourced abroad. In the beginning, the types of paralegal tasks outsourced were primarily low-end, high-volume work including deposition summaries; document review; electronic discovery; document organization, summarizing, indexing, categorizing and abstracting; document imaging, scanning and coding; and routine research such as multi-jurisdictional surveys. As offshoring gains momentum, more sophisticated and complex paralegal tasks are being sent overseas such as complex legal research; contract drafting, monitoring and review; business research services such as reviews of SEC filings and corporate financial research; and drafting of legal documents such as legal memorandums, pleadings, briefs, discovery requests and jury instructions. In India and other developing countries, the title of paralegal does not exist. Employees performing paralegal tasks are trained law school graduates who deliver a high-end work product at a fraction of the cost of U.S.-based paralegals. LPO Destinations India is currently the leading destination for offshoring legal services. With tens of thousands of students graduating from Indias law schools each year, India boasts an enormous labor pool of highly trained, English-

speaking lawyers. Like the U.S., Indias legal system is based on British common law, reducing the learning curve for Indian legal employees who work for U.S. clients. Moreover, the ten-hour time difference between India and the United States permits overnight and 24/7 operations. A U.S. attorney can assign a project at the end of his workday to an Indian employee and find the completed project on his desk the following morning. Although most offshored work is exported to India, other countries are competing for a share of the LPO market, including China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Israel, and the Phillipines.