A valuable post on Offshoring from Joy London’s Excited Utterances blog, pointing to the trend in legal process outsourcing (LPO), particularly to India, and providing links to the main players:
With the increasing acceptance of India as a preferred offshoring destination, a large number of non-CRM and non-transaction related services are being offshored. Among these, a range of higher-value services, like legal services, requiring not just skill, but ‘knowledge‘ are rapidly gaining traction. (italics mine)
So although law firm IT directors say they are sending precious little work overseas, it appears that some substantive and administrative legal functions (e.g., document drafting, legal research, document discovery, paralegal and other administrative and secretarial support services) are being outsourced to India. Otherwise, why have we seen such a proliferation of India-based legal outsourcers.
Are UK based law firms prepared to open international offices in commonwealth jurisdictions in order to provide their clients with a truly global service? How many of the more established firms will be prepared to consider offices in South Africa? We will be keen to receive some feedback in this regard. mecattorneys@absamail.co.za
“Otherwise, why have we seen such a proliferation of India-based legal outsourcers.”
I always think it is because of the lower cost and the quality of work produced.