GREGORY CHANDLER ON LEGAL OUTSOURCING

A reality that is here to stay is the fact that a substantial amount of legal work is being outsourced. Legal outsourcing is the practice of obtaining legal work from a law firm or legal support services company that is outside the United States of America. Legal work is being outsourced for the same reasons that U. S. businesses in other services and professions started outsourcing.


The various reason for legal outsourcing include lower costs and the avoidance of complying with the laws and regulations that exist in the U. S. Of course, legal work done in a foreign nation does not have to comply with, for example, government mandated wage laws.

Legal outsourcing took off in the late 1990s. The nations that do the most outsourcing for U. S. recipients are Canada, India, the Philippines, and Israel. India is the major player in terms of legal outsourcing. Legal outsourcing has a huge costs-savings advantage. Attorney work that may cost between $100.00 to $500.00 per hour in the U. S. will usually cost much less in a foreign nation.

In India, legal outsourcing represents an upscale movement in outsourcing. A decade ago, outsourced work in India consisted of low end call centers dealing with service functions. This work consisted of, for example, doing customer service work for a U. S. business. Legal outsourcing, however, involves more than just speaking over the telephone. Legal outsourcing involves engaging in sophisticated legal work.

Indian workers, who once helped with legal transcription, now offer services that include research, litigation support, document discovery and review, drafting of contracts and patent writing. The industry offers an attractive career path for many of the 300,000 Indians who enroll in law schools every year. India and the United States share a common law legal system and Indian lawyers are trained to conduct proceedings in English.

The United States legal profession has experienced great change during the past decade. The realities of the global market, such as legal outsourcing, will continue to change the legal profession.

GREGORY CHANDLER, Attorney at Law