And then there are developments that no one saw coming.
A few years worth of both professional and academic studies, articles, and books weighing in on the efficiencies and cost-effectiveness of Legal Process Outsourcing, and the LPO sector received its most high-profile, mainstream splash of exposure this week thanks to...?
Sacha Baron Cohen. That's right. Borat. Ali G. Bruno.
This past week, Los Angeles Superior Court threw out a defamation suit against actor/comedian Sascha Baron Cohen. What is noteworthy about the coverage of the suit's dismissal is the very public recognition and credit being given to the Indian attorneys who contributed to the victory via Legal Process Outsourcing.
One of the most widely read websites covering Hollywood and the entertainment industry, the L.A. Weekly's Deadline Hollywood Daily, quoted one of the defense attorneys saying, "...combining the skills and expertise of U.S. attorneys with U.S. law-trained Indian attorneys has proved to be an innovative and cost-effective way to fight and win the suit.”
To have both the quality of the work and the contribution to success praised so publicly is impressive.
The Wallstreet Journal's website references the case, "Sacha Baron Cohen Uses Outsourcing for the Win," and provide links to other articles discussing the story.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The Commoditization of Legal Services
Every now and then an idea or meme seems to catch fire and become ubiquitous in a very short time. In the past couple weeks, discussions and examples of the growing commoditization of legal services has come from a number of fronts.
Marketing pushes from consumer-targeted, off-the-shelf legal forms companies like LegalZoom, LawDepot, and USLegalForms are examples of legal products replacing services. Similarly, companies targeting the small business market, like Direct Incorporation and Business in a Box, are attempting to carve out their own niches.
One interesting element of the trend is the actual language being used to describe it. Language that Robert J. Ambrogi nails in a recent post at Legal Blog Watch.
"Legal services are evolving from a highly bespoke, highly customized product toward becoming a commodity. As part of this evolution, legal work will be unbundled into its constituent tasks and many of those tasks will be standardized and systematized."
From the perspective of an LPO (which provides actual services, rather than off-the-shelf products), the key word in that passage is "unbundled". Because the value in legal process outsourcing is identifying which legal tasks can be efficiently unbundled and outsourced for significantly lower costs.
This idea of unbundling is also prominent in Richard Suskinds new book, "The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services". This description from Oxford University Press cuts right to the chase:
"It is argued that the market is increasingly unlikely to tolerate expensive lawyers for tasks (guiding, advising, drafting, researching, problem-solving, and more) that can equally or better be discharged, directly or indirectly, by smart systems and processes. It follows, the book claims, that the jobs of many traditional lawyers will be substantially eroded and often eliminated. This is where the legal profession will be taken, it is argued, by two forces: by a market pull towards commoditisation and by pervasive development and uptake of information technology. At the same time, the book foresees new law jobs emerging which may be highly rewarding, even if very different from those of today. "
For another of the many voices discussing the commoditization of legal work, the Chicago Lawyer has an excellent overview.
Marketing pushes from consumer-targeted, off-the-shelf legal forms companies like LegalZoom, LawDepot, and USLegalForms are examples of legal products replacing services. Similarly, companies targeting the small business market, like Direct Incorporation and Business in a Box, are attempting to carve out their own niches.
One interesting element of the trend is the actual language being used to describe it. Language that Robert J. Ambrogi nails in a recent post at Legal Blog Watch.
"Legal services are evolving from a highly bespoke, highly customized product toward becoming a commodity. As part of this evolution, legal work will be unbundled into its constituent tasks and many of those tasks will be standardized and systematized."
From the perspective of an LPO (which provides actual services, rather than off-the-shelf products), the key word in that passage is "unbundled". Because the value in legal process outsourcing is identifying which legal tasks can be efficiently unbundled and outsourced for significantly lower costs.
This idea of unbundling is also prominent in Richard Suskinds new book, "The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services". This description from Oxford University Press cuts right to the chase:
"It is argued that the market is increasingly unlikely to tolerate expensive lawyers for tasks (guiding, advising, drafting, researching, problem-solving, and more) that can equally or better be discharged, directly or indirectly, by smart systems and processes. It follows, the book claims, that the jobs of many traditional lawyers will be substantially eroded and often eliminated. This is where the legal profession will be taken, it is argued, by two forces: by a market pull towards commoditisation and by pervasive development and uptake of information technology. At the same time, the book foresees new law jobs emerging which may be highly rewarding, even if very different from those of today. "
For another of the many voices discussing the commoditization of legal work, the Chicago Lawyer has an excellent overview.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Evaluating What Not To Outsource
Any conversation about which legal processes are prime candidates for outsourcing must also include evaluating work that is less suitable for outsourcing.
Obviously, LegalEase Solutions believes wholeheartedly in the value of targeted legal process outsourcing, but by the same token it would be disingenuous not to acknowledge that some legal work is not efficiently outsourced.
A quick review of work that is successfully and efficiently outsourced provides some broad-stroke common traits: the work is typically less complex, more repetitive, and provides time and cost efficiencies.
Conversely, it follows to reason that the first area of work that is best kept solely in-house are cases dealing with complex, uniquely fact-driven subject matter. A prime example would be IP litigation.
Work that has a very high level of complexity and case-specific data can practically become its own field of study, which means that the amount of time required to bring outside attorneys up to speed would outweigh the potential reduction in costs.
If you are an attorney who has identified additional legal work that is not appropriate for outsourcing, feel free to contribute to the discussion in the comments area.
Obviously, LegalEase Solutions believes wholeheartedly in the value of targeted legal process outsourcing, but by the same token it would be disingenuous not to acknowledge that some legal work is not efficiently outsourced.
A quick review of work that is successfully and efficiently outsourced provides some broad-stroke common traits: the work is typically less complex, more repetitive, and provides time and cost efficiencies.
Conversely, it follows to reason that the first area of work that is best kept solely in-house are cases dealing with complex, uniquely fact-driven subject matter. A prime example would be IP litigation.
Work that has a very high level of complexity and case-specific data can practically become its own field of study, which means that the amount of time required to bring outside attorneys up to speed would outweigh the potential reduction in costs.
If you are an attorney who has identified additional legal work that is not appropriate for outsourcing, feel free to contribute to the discussion in the comments area.
Friday, April 03, 2009
India Business Law Journal
There was a very comprehensive overview on the state of the Legal Process Outsourcing market in the March issue of the India Business Law Journal. Industry leaders from top LPO's were interviewed, including LegalEase Solution's CEO Tariq Akbar. Here are some of the highlights of the subjects addressed, as well as observations about the industry quoted from the article:
- The cost factor. "Corporations are no longer willing to pay the high fees that are traditionally associated with the review process,which accounts for around 60% of litigation costs."
- Process efficiencies. "Once a project is underway, clients see other benefits like process efficiencies, quality improvements."
- Climbing up the value chain. "Once clients are comfortable that the quality of outsourced work is not compromised, it allows them to transition significantly more work both in terms of value and quantity."
- Crisis-driven demand. "The events occurring in the global economy are unprecedented … they are forcing companies of all sizes in all industries to ensure that they are spending every penny wisely."
- Outsourcing decision makers. "The major decision makers are the end clients of the law firms – the corporate legal departments who now want a lesser burden on their resources."
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