Should Small Firms Get on Board With Outsourcing?

Below are some excerpts from a new article in the Small Firm Business Magazine regarding legal outsourcing (my comments are below):

Some attorneys swear by it: offshoring legal work to India. But is this growing practice just a passing fancy, or is it an effective way for law firms to take a step towards gaining a competitive advantage?

For Ted Sabety the answer is pretty clear. "Law firms need to get on the [outsourcing] train," he says, or they'll get left in the dust. He feels that the ability of firms to pass along savings from the reduced costs for more junior-level legal work is an important competitive advantage. And who knows if another business trend will come along to provide firms with a similar cost saving opportunity for their clients?

The principal of an eponymous three-attorney technology and electronic-media law firm in New York City, Sabety outsources some of his firm's first-year associate research tasks to lawyers in Hyderabad, India. His is a business model that's about striking a balance. He and his colleagues provide the services that attract the clients -- performing analysis, constructing arguments, handling negotiations, etc. At the same time, junior-level legal work is sent overseas to English-speaking, common-law trained lawyers.

"If I hired someone full-time to do the work here, it would require substantial pay, overhead and training," he says. What's more, Sabety says that he gets a quality of work that's equal to that of junior associates here in the United States, yet at a bargain price. Even accounting for the time required to double-check the final work product of the Indian lawyers, he says the savings are significant

The article discusses certain criteria that an attorey should keep in mind before choosing a legal outsourcing provider. Among them are:

1. Ties to the United States: This is absolutely essential, as our experience in running an outsourcing company has showed us time and again. The work cultures of the United States and India are different, and choosing a US company is vital to meet client expectations. In addition, the three most vital elements of a successful outsourcing company are: training, training, training. A US based company is certainly better suited to provide the appropriate training to its attorneys

2. Requring high level of training: To reiterate what was stated above--training is absolutely essential to the success of a legal outsourcing company. Here at LegalEase Solutions, we train our attorneys with both training materials from U.S. law schools as well as pilot projects replicating actual client issues and projects. The training is continuous, with much of it concentrated in the beginning, and regular training every month. LegalEase trainers are all U.S. licensed attorneys with significant experience under their belts. There can be no compromise in training--LegalEase surely doesn't allow for any.

3. Supervision of attorneys: As anyone with offshoring experience will tell you, competent supervision of employees in India is crucial. While many outsourcing companies will undoubtedly start with using independent contractors in India (for its cost savings), as a company matures, it will need to have greater control over the time of its Indian attorneys. For a US lawyer shopping for outsourcing companies, definitely go with one with full-time employees.

4. Closely review work: This advice has dual applications--just as the end user of the legal products must always review the work, so should the outsourcing company. This review serves as an essential substantive review early on, while the Indian attorneys are getting familiar with doing US legal work. Later, as the Indian attorneys are fully competent, the review serves as a quality control process.

Very few outsourcing companies make a commitment to have all work done in India reviewed by US licensed lawyers. LegalEase is one of the few companies which promises to have all work reviewed by its in-house US licensed attorneys.

The next post will deal with the (1) appropriate projects to give to outsourcing companies, (2) security and confidentiality (3) legal ethics.

Tariq Hafeez, Esq.
Partner
LegalEase Solutions LLC