tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24788069154976659302009-10-14T12:07:15.075-07:00William_Tapscottnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2478806915497665930.post-64434333327875515392008-07-15T20:40:00.000-07:002008-07-15T20:53:16.784-07:00It's easy to understand why American companies have outsourced low-skill, time-consuming office work to India -- consumers don't care who does the work, as long as it gets done, and Indian workers do it cheaper than Americans.<br /><br />But what prompted American companies and law firms to start sending legal work overseas? After all, legal work is complex, high-end work; laws vary from state-to-state; and clients want a lawyer they can speak to face-to-face, in confidence.<br /><br />According to a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/10/AR2008051002355.html">recent Washington Post article</a>, new e-discovery regulations established in 2006 created a need for outsourcing. The Post quoted an official with an outsourcing company saying:<br /><br />"The new e-discovery rules sent American companies scurrying all over the place. Neither the corporates [sic] nor the law firms in America are geared to do this kind of work at short notice. And that is where the Indian players come in. We can bring together a large number of skilled lawyers in no time at all and at one-fifth the cost."<br /><br />Since the initial flurry of outsourcing, however, the range of work that can be outsourced has broadened. While Indian firms might initially have primarily performed document-review-type work, some legal outsourcing firms now research and draft motions for use in U.S. courts.<br /><br />Now the question is how deep into the legal profession outsourcing will go. It was probably inevitable that East-Coast mega-firms would outsource document review. But will mid-size, middle-America firms eventually have to outsource to survive? Only time will tell.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2478806915497665930-6443433332787551539?l=outsourcinglegalworktoindia.blogspot.com'/></div>William_Tapscottnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2478806915497665930.post-75982450273075119222008-07-09T18:39:00.000-07:002008-07-09T18:45:52.732-07:00<a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/economicNews/idINIndia-34332020080702">Reuters recently reported</a> that $80 million of legal work is outsourced annually, with over 75% going to India.<br /><br />Like millions of Americans, I was excited when I read Tim Ferris's "4-Hour Work Week" and learned about outsourcing. As Ferris explains, via the internet it is easy to hire foreign workers to perform mundane tasks. And, by hiring someone in a country where wages are lower, you can really benefit from the arrangement.<br /><br />If you've called customer support at any major company lately, you know that call centers in India are receiving a lot of outsourcing work.<br /><br />But legal work? Should that really be sent overseas? Is it unethical for American lawyers to outsource? Are Indian lawyers practicing law without a license?<br /><br />I will address these and many other issues surrounding the outsourcing of legal work on this new blog. Stay tuned...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2478806915497665930-7598245027307511922?l=outsourcinglegalworktoindia.blogspot.com'/></div>William_Tapscottnoreply@blogger.com0