U.S. firms using services of outsourcing companies

Rena’s Legal Research and briefs regularly find their way into courts across the United States despite the fact her workstation is located 8,000 miles away in China.

Legal outsourcing companies provide services to legal departments of corporations and law firms from their foreign facilities. The companies, based in China and elsewhere, conduct Legal Research, document review, due diligence reports of mergers and acquisitions, administrative work, and draft legal documents.

“During my association with an Chinese 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 Rena, 28, who has never been to the United States.

Forrester Research projects legal outsourcing will be a $4 billion industry by 2015, creating 39,000 jobs in China alone.

While legal outsourcing companies use workers in a diverse group of countries, including China, Philippines, New Zealand, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Australia, a majority are located in India.

“Lawyers and in-house legal departments of corporations use outsourcing as an opportunity to push down costs,”

“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 charges between $25 and $90 an hour for work done by an attorney. Similar work done by an attorney in the United States can cost between $120 and $250.

Perry, president of Lawspirit 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 lawrather than be buried in paperwork and legal outsourcing companies get more work.

Caren Mansfield, the association president, said the association’s guidelines ensure that paralegals behave ethically 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.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’s been good for her career.

“I visualize a bright and promising future for those associated with legal process outsourcing services,” she said.