(openPR) - The Indian legal services outsourcing space has changed remarkably over the last two years. Newer services have been added to the offshored list, many new vendors have emerged and several existing vendors have developed greater capabilities.
There is no doubt that the established brand value of India in the global BPO space has been a growth propeller for the legal services outsourcing industry. A recently released report by ValueNotes estimates that the current Indian revenues from legal services offshoring are slated to grow from $146 million for the calendar year 2006 to reach $640 million by end 2010. The industry employed around 7,500 people in the legal offshoring space in India as of end 2006. The Legal services outsourcing industry has grown at 50% CARG through 2005-06. This growth has been achieved primarily due to increasing demand, vendor maturity and capability of vendors to offer higher value services.
Read full article in www.openpr.com
“ The above article has been reprinted from www.openpr.com and LegalEase Solutions LLC does not hold any rights to the same”
Thursday, July 05, 2007
The next level - legal outsourcing
Technology has shrunk the world to a global village; outsourcing is now the buzzword that is changing the job markets globally. Voice is the first level of offshoring, which is now moved up to knowledge-based jobs.
Since outsourcing has significant savings for companies, this concept is gaining favour across a spectrum of industries.
Certainly, as mounting legal costs create a cause for concern, outsourcing litigation support activity is being seen as a viable option, especially since firms can get their work done for one third of the cost incurred on their home turf.
Read full article in jamaica-gleaner.com
“ The above article has been reprinted from jamaica-gleaner.com and LegalEase Solutions LLC does not hold any rights to the same”
Since outsourcing has significant savings for companies, this concept is gaining favour across a spectrum of industries.
Certainly, as mounting legal costs create a cause for concern, outsourcing litigation support activity is being seen as a viable option, especially since firms can get their work done for one third of the cost incurred on their home turf.
Read full article in jamaica-gleaner.com
“ The above article has been reprinted from jamaica-gleaner.com and LegalEase Solutions LLC does not hold any rights to the same”
Businessworld piece on LPO
A decade after legal work began to be outsourced to India, the industry has grown to reach an annual turnover of $60 million(Rs 246 crore). But despite the hype over how legal outsourcing and other such value-added services would alter the global economy by moving high value, white collar jobs out of western economies and into India, the fact is that this is not happening.
$60 million sounds like a reasonable estimate. I don't think the day will ever come when even theoretically every Western lawyer will be replacable by an Indian lawyer. In India, law doesn't seem to be a career of choice for many and it doesn't seem things will change vastly anytime soon. This, of course, affects how many of legal graduates being churned out by law schools across India are suitably deployed for doing offshored legal work.
Read full article in legallyours.blogspot.com
“ The above article has been reprinted from legallyours.blogspot.com and LegalEase Solutions LLC does not hold any rights to the same”
$60 million sounds like a reasonable estimate. I don't think the day will ever come when even theoretically every Western lawyer will be replacable by an Indian lawyer. In India, law doesn't seem to be a career of choice for many and it doesn't seem things will change vastly anytime soon. This, of course, affects how many of legal graduates being churned out by law schools across India are suitably deployed for doing offshored legal work.
Read full article in legallyours.blogspot.com
“ The above article has been reprinted from legallyours.blogspot.com and LegalEase Solutions LLC does not hold any rights to the same”
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Now, For Some LPO Action
Now, for some LPO action
SACHIN MALHAN
Career prospects are tremendous in the Legal Process Outsourcing industry
The argument that off-shoring, as a practice, can create tremendous employment opportunities is now largely uncontested. It has been validated time and time again, and India is a shining example, arguably the best example.
The Indian BPO industry, which currently employs 6.5 million people, has become the stuff of stories and legends. People have made their careers not just in the industry but even ‘on’ the industry, through bestsellers and big-screen blockbusters!
The benefits of off-shoring have been felt in numerous industry verticals, including health care, research, media and, more recently, the legal industry. The significance of ‘off-shoring’ in the Indian economy is continuously increasing, and many believe that these are the ‘early days’ of offshoring, not just in terms of volume of work but also in terms of variety.
For the legal industry this is a period of tremendous learning and development, and the shape that Legal Process Outsourcing has taken raises incredible possibilities for legal professionals and industry alike.
The Indian higher education machine, and it’s a big one, turns out close to 80,000 law graduates every year.
Of this lot, only a handful, mostly from the top 12-15 law schools (a number not exceeding five per cent of the total graduates), join the law firms and legal departments, or apprentice under good counsel (senior lawyers) at the various courts and tribunals.
A sizeable percentage of the rest pursue other options including the civil services while the remaining majority struggle to succeed in the courts. Diverse work
LPO opportunities can transform that five per cent to something closer to 40 per cent, by drawing law graduates into work that’s not just large in volume but tremendously diverse.
Rising legal costs in the U.S., and more recently in the EU, are amongst a variety of other factors that are driving a diverse portfolio of legal work to India. There is now offshoring work at almost every level of expertise and this is what makes the curry very spicy and appealing to a wide range of legal professionals.
For a young legal professional, a career with an LPO is attractive for several reasons: it is a sunrise industry which should see a boom in the next 3-5 years; there is a tremendous variety of work at all levels of expertise; high-end opportunities for graduates of top law schools; attractive remuneration and future management prospects; an opportunity to work in a corporate structure that straddles borders; a learning opportunity for those considering legal and paralegal careers in the U.K. or the U.S.
Forrester Research estimates that there could be a demand for as many as 79,000 LPO professionals in the next 7-8 years.
According to Russell Smith of SDD Global Solutions, the offshoring arm of a leading U.S. law firm, the figure is based on an assumption that only 10 per cent of law firm work can be outsourced while with an increase in global confidence in Indian legal services that percentage could be much larger.
Already 155 of the top 200 U.S. law firms outsource some portion of their work.
Some critics have remarked that most of the work will be high volume but low value.
But several leading LPOs including Quislex, Jurimatrix and Bodhi Global have created business models leveraging high-volume high-value opportunities which they strongly believe are out there for everyone to see. Research, Transaction Support, Case Analysis are good examples of high-value work that’s also coming across in large volumes. Skills
So what does one have to do to be, and excel as, an LPO professional. Currently, 77 per cent of all LPO work emanates from the U.S. Therefore proficiency in American English, drafting and research methodology are essential skills. Comfort with work place technology is another important pre-requisite as all product creation and delivery is done using computer applications.
Only a tiny percentage of graduating lawyers are equipped with all the skills needed for the LPO industry. Capacity building and re-orientation to U.S. legal systems and methodologies will be the key in ensuring success.
Interestingly there is a healthy chunk of work that can be done, or in some cases required to be done, by non-lawyers. For instance, there is a tremendous demand for engineers in the intellectual property work space.
The work involves analysing scientific and technological inventions for the purposes of crafting legal protection for the same. This work needs to be done by those with technological skills and hence the opportunities.
One message that’s writ large – professionals who enter the industry now, at this strategic phase, will be best positioned to benefit when it booms in the months to come.
SACHIN MALHAN
Career prospects are tremendous in the Legal Process Outsourcing industry
The argument that off-shoring, as a practice, can create tremendous employment opportunities is now largely uncontested. It has been validated time and time again, and India is a shining example, arguably the best example.
The Indian BPO industry, which currently employs 6.5 million people, has become the stuff of stories and legends. People have made their careers not just in the industry but even ‘on’ the industry, through bestsellers and big-screen blockbusters!
The benefits of off-shoring have been felt in numerous industry verticals, including health care, research, media and, more recently, the legal industry. The significance of ‘off-shoring’ in the Indian economy is continuously increasing, and many believe that these are the ‘early days’ of offshoring, not just in terms of volume of work but also in terms of variety.
For the legal industry this is a period of tremendous learning and development, and the shape that Legal Process Outsourcing has taken raises incredible possibilities for legal professionals and industry alike.
The Indian higher education machine, and it’s a big one, turns out close to 80,000 law graduates every year.
Of this lot, only a handful, mostly from the top 12-15 law schools (a number not exceeding five per cent of the total graduates), join the law firms and legal departments, or apprentice under good counsel (senior lawyers) at the various courts and tribunals.
A sizeable percentage of the rest pursue other options including the civil services while the remaining majority struggle to succeed in the courts. Diverse work
LPO opportunities can transform that five per cent to something closer to 40 per cent, by drawing law graduates into work that’s not just large in volume but tremendously diverse.
Rising legal costs in the U.S., and more recently in the EU, are amongst a variety of other factors that are driving a diverse portfolio of legal work to India. There is now offshoring work at almost every level of expertise and this is what makes the curry very spicy and appealing to a wide range of legal professionals.
For a young legal professional, a career with an LPO is attractive for several reasons: it is a sunrise industry which should see a boom in the next 3-5 years; there is a tremendous variety of work at all levels of expertise; high-end opportunities for graduates of top law schools; attractive remuneration and future management prospects; an opportunity to work in a corporate structure that straddles borders; a learning opportunity for those considering legal and paralegal careers in the U.K. or the U.S.
Forrester Research estimates that there could be a demand for as many as 79,000 LPO professionals in the next 7-8 years.
According to Russell Smith of SDD Global Solutions, the offshoring arm of a leading U.S. law firm, the figure is based on an assumption that only 10 per cent of law firm work can be outsourced while with an increase in global confidence in Indian legal services that percentage could be much larger.
Already 155 of the top 200 U.S. law firms outsource some portion of their work.
Some critics have remarked that most of the work will be high volume but low value.
But several leading LPOs including Quislex, Jurimatrix and Bodhi Global have created business models leveraging high-volume high-value opportunities which they strongly believe are out there for everyone to see. Research, Transaction Support, Case Analysis are good examples of high-value work that’s also coming across in large volumes. Skills
So what does one have to do to be, and excel as, an LPO professional. Currently, 77 per cent of all LPO work emanates from the U.S. Therefore proficiency in American English, drafting and research methodology are essential skills. Comfort with work place technology is another important pre-requisite as all product creation and delivery is done using computer applications.
Only a tiny percentage of graduating lawyers are equipped with all the skills needed for the LPO industry. Capacity building and re-orientation to U.S. legal systems and methodologies will be the key in ensuring success.
Interestingly there is a healthy chunk of work that can be done, or in some cases required to be done, by non-lawyers. For instance, there is a tremendous demand for engineers in the intellectual property work space.
The work involves analysing scientific and technological inventions for the purposes of crafting legal protection for the same. This work needs to be done by those with technological skills and hence the opportunities.
One message that’s writ large – professionals who enter the industry now, at this strategic phase, will be best positioned to benefit when it booms in the months to come.
Monday, July 02, 2007
US norms won't hit legal outsourcing
The ethical guidelines proposed by three US bar associations for their attorneys will not have any adverse impact on the legal outsourcing services industry in India.
In fact, the opinions delivered by the associations legitimise the outsourcing of legal services to other countries and will lead to the market in India getting larger, according to Ram Vasudevan, president of SQ Global Solutions.
New York-based SQ Global Solutions is a joint venture between Strategic Legal Solutions, a 12-year-old US domestic legal staffing company and Quislex, a provider of offshore legal services in India. The company employs around 300 professionals, of which about 150 work out of India.
It may be recalled that three US bar associations -- New York, California and Los Angeles -- had in 2006 and early 2007 delivered opinions stating that offshoring of legal support work by lawyers in the US to other countries was ethical provided certain conditions are met.
"The guidelines state that US lawyers who are contemplating outsourcing legal services to other countries should inform their client that the work is being outsourced, besides protecting the client's confidences. The US law firm should also be closely involved in the supervision of the outsourced work. In addition, the entity performing the work must perform conflict checks to avoid any unpleasant surprises," said Vasudevan.
"Companies in India directly deal with the legal departments of US corporations and law firms for outsourcing work to avoid any issues of unauthorised practice and usually have several quality control metrics in place," he said. For instance, SQ follows the Six Sigma process.
At present, there are around 15 companies in India that provide legal outsourcing services, with the prominent among them being SQ Global Solutions, Pangea and Mindcrest.
Though not mandatory, many US law firms and attorneys have been adopting the ethical guidelines and client demand too has been picking up.
This is expected to accelerate the growth of the legal outsourcing services industry in India in the years to come. The Indian legal outsourcing industry is currently pegged at $130 million, and is expected to touch the $4-billion mark by 2015, according to Forrester Research, he added.
Currently, there are around 1,000 such professionals, both lawyers and non-lawyers, delivering high-end legal outsourcing services in India.
- K Rajani Kanth in Hyderabad
“ The above article has been reprinted from http://inhome.rediff.com and LegalEase Solutions LLC does not hold any rights to the same”
In fact, the opinions delivered by the associations legitimise the outsourcing of legal services to other countries and will lead to the market in India getting larger, according to Ram Vasudevan, president of SQ Global Solutions.
New York-based SQ Global Solutions is a joint venture between Strategic Legal Solutions, a 12-year-old US domestic legal staffing company and Quislex, a provider of offshore legal services in India. The company employs around 300 professionals, of which about 150 work out of India.
It may be recalled that three US bar associations -- New York, California and Los Angeles -- had in 2006 and early 2007 delivered opinions stating that offshoring of legal support work by lawyers in the US to other countries was ethical provided certain conditions are met.
"The guidelines state that US lawyers who are contemplating outsourcing legal services to other countries should inform their client that the work is being outsourced, besides protecting the client's confidences. The US law firm should also be closely involved in the supervision of the outsourced work. In addition, the entity performing the work must perform conflict checks to avoid any unpleasant surprises," said Vasudevan.
"Companies in India directly deal with the legal departments of US corporations and law firms for outsourcing work to avoid any issues of unauthorised practice and usually have several quality control metrics in place," he said. For instance, SQ follows the Six Sigma process.
At present, there are around 15 companies in India that provide legal outsourcing services, with the prominent among them being SQ Global Solutions, Pangea and Mindcrest.
Though not mandatory, many US law firms and attorneys have been adopting the ethical guidelines and client demand too has been picking up.
This is expected to accelerate the growth of the legal outsourcing services industry in India in the years to come. The Indian legal outsourcing industry is currently pegged at $130 million, and is expected to touch the $4-billion mark by 2015, according to Forrester Research, he added.
Currently, there are around 1,000 such professionals, both lawyers and non-lawyers, delivering high-end legal outsourcing services in India.
- K Rajani Kanth in Hyderabad
“ The above article has been reprinted from http://inhome.rediff.com and LegalEase Solutions LLC does not hold any rights to the same”
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