Lawyering from afar
Ruby Prasad's legal research and briefs regularly find their way into courtrooms across the United States despite the fact that she has never stepped foot in the country. In fact, her workstation is located 8,000 miles away in India.
Prasad is among the 200 lawyers working for Chicago-based Mindcrest Inc. that has an outsourcing facility in Mumbai.
Her company, along with other legal outsourcing firms, is experiencing an explosive growth. From just 20 lawyers two years ago, Mindcrest is now ten times its original size.
According to George Hefferan, the company's vice president and general counsel, Mindcrest plans to add 200 more employees by the end of 2007.
Atlas Legal Research, another legal outsourcing company with offices in Bangalore, India and Fort Worth, Texas, also grew tenfold in the last two years. The company employed three attorneys in India in 2004. Today, it has 30.
Legal outsourcing companies provide services to legal departments of corporations and law firms from their foreign facilities. The companies, based in India and elsewhere, conduct legal research, document review, due diligence reports of merger and acquisitions and administrative work, as well as draft legal documents.
"During my association with an Indian law firm at the start of my career, I realized that I was more interested in doing work relating to legal research and drafting than practicing law," said Prasad, 28.
Forrester Research projects legal outsourcing to become a $4 billion industry by 2015, creating 79,000 jobs in India alone. In fact, the Cambridge, Mass.-based research firm predicts that 489,000 jobs will move to lower cost countries by that time.
While legal outsourcing companies are based in countries as diverse as the Philippines, New Zealand, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Australia, a majority are currently located in India.
Indian legal research firm Value Notes projects the legal outsourcing industry will grow tenfold in India alone during the next 10 years.
Carol Silver, senior lecturer at Northwestern University's School of Law and a member of the transnational law committee of the American Bar Association, said the interest in outsourcing was prompted by rising legal costs.
"Lawyers and in-house legal departments of corporations use outsourcing as an opportunity to push down costs," she said.
Paul Bernstein, president of the Chicago Bar Association's law office technology committee, agreed.
"The research work done by lawyers in other countries is excellent. It is a fraction of the cost [of legal services here], and the turnaround time is faster, too."
An outsourcing firm in India charges between $25 and $90 an hour for work done by a attorney. Similar work done by an attorney in the United States can cost between $120 and $250.
India's legal system and education system also make the country a preferred destination from which to outsource work.
"India has a common law system with similar torts and level of complexity, and that kind of training is sufficient for the work the legal associates do," Bernstein explained.
He added that the time difference between India and the Unites States -- 11 1/2 hours -- is another advantage for outsourcing jobs. As lawyers finish their work in the United States, a new work day begins for legal associates in India.
According to Bernstein, that enables the associates to get the research ready for attorneys in the United States before they return to work the next morning.
Rocky Dhir, president of Atlas Legal Services, called it a "win-win-win" for all parties. According to him, clients are able to pay lower legal fees, attorneys can practice law rather than buried in paperwork, and legal outsourcing companies get more work.
But the booming outsourcing sector has caused some concern for the Illinois Paralegal Association. The 1,500-member organization's board of directors distributed a letter to 300 Chicago area companies asking them to use paralegals over outsourcing.
The letter stated that work done by paralegals is quality controlled and cost efficient. It added that experienced paralegals perform high-level substantive work under direct supervision of an attorney at lower billing rates than attorneys.
"We are guided by the IPA guidelines," said Caren Mansfield, the association president.
She added that the guidelines ensure that paralegals are ethical and maintain confidentiality, and the same might not be true for people working outside the country.
Silver said there is also concern about whether law firms get their clients' consent before they outsource work.
But despite the worries, Bernstein said the trend is here to stay.
"Whether I like it or not, this is the way things are," he said.
As for Prasad, she says it was a good career move.
"I visualizes a bright and promising future for those associated with legal process outsourcing services," she said.
Prasad is among the 200 lawyers working for Chicago-based Mindcrest Inc. that has an outsourcing facility in Mumbai.
Her company, along with other legal outsourcing firms, is experiencing an explosive growth. From just 20 lawyers two years ago, Mindcrest is now ten times its original size.
According to George Hefferan, the company's vice president and general counsel, Mindcrest plans to add 200 more employees by the end of 2007.
Atlas Legal Research, another legal outsourcing company with offices in Bangalore, India and Fort Worth, Texas, also grew tenfold in the last two years. The company employed three attorneys in India in 2004. Today, it has 30.
Legal outsourcing companies provide services to legal departments of corporations and law firms from their foreign facilities. The companies, based in India and elsewhere, conduct legal research, document review, due diligence reports of merger and acquisitions and administrative work, as well as draft legal documents.
"During my association with an Indian law firm at the start of my career, I realized that I was more interested in doing work relating to legal research and drafting than practicing law," said Prasad, 28.
Forrester Research projects legal outsourcing to become a $4 billion industry by 2015, creating 79,000 jobs in India alone. In fact, the Cambridge, Mass.-based research firm predicts that 489,000 jobs will move to lower cost countries by that time.
While legal outsourcing companies are based in countries as diverse as the Philippines, New Zealand, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Australia, a majority are currently located in India.
Indian legal research firm Value Notes projects the legal outsourcing industry will grow tenfold in India alone during the next 10 years.
Carol Silver, senior lecturer at Northwestern University's School of Law and a member of the transnational law committee of the American Bar Association, said the interest in outsourcing was prompted by rising legal costs.
"Lawyers and in-house legal departments of corporations use outsourcing as an opportunity to push down costs," she said.
Paul Bernstein, president of the Chicago Bar Association's law office technology committee, agreed.
"The research work done by lawyers in other countries is excellent. It is a fraction of the cost [of legal services here], and the turnaround time is faster, too."
An outsourcing firm in India charges between $25 and $90 an hour for work done by a attorney. Similar work done by an attorney in the United States can cost between $120 and $250.
India's legal system and education system also make the country a preferred destination from which to outsource work.
"India has a common law system with similar torts and level of complexity, and that kind of training is sufficient for the work the legal associates do," Bernstein explained.
He added that the time difference between India and the Unites States -- 11 1/2 hours -- is another advantage for outsourcing jobs. As lawyers finish their work in the United States, a new work day begins for legal associates in India.
According to Bernstein, that enables the associates to get the research ready for attorneys in the United States before they return to work the next morning.
Rocky Dhir, president of Atlas Legal Services, called it a "win-win-win" for all parties. According to him, clients are able to pay lower legal fees, attorneys can practice law rather than buried in paperwork, and legal outsourcing companies get more work.
But the booming outsourcing sector has caused some concern for the Illinois Paralegal Association. The 1,500-member organization's board of directors distributed a letter to 300 Chicago area companies asking them to use paralegals over outsourcing.
The letter stated that work done by paralegals is quality controlled and cost efficient. It added that experienced paralegals perform high-level substantive work under direct supervision of an attorney at lower billing rates than attorneys.
"We are guided by the IPA guidelines," said Caren Mansfield, the association president.
She added that the guidelines ensure that paralegals are ethical and maintain confidentiality, and the same might not be true for people working outside the country.
Silver said there is also concern about whether law firms get their clients' consent before they outsource work.
But despite the worries, Bernstein said the trend is here to stay.
"Whether I like it or not, this is the way things are," he said.
As for Prasad, she says it was a good career move.
"I visualizes a bright and promising future for those associated with legal process outsourcing services," she said.
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