More On That Whole Outsourcing Legal Job Thing

Below is a follow up article on the outsourcing of associate jobs to India.  The article focuses on the big New York firms.  There is also an interesting survey attached to the story.

. . . Kelley Drye partner Talat Ansari told the newspaper his firm sends some legal matters to India, although it is only basic work. An example: The firm hires lawyers in India to review e-mails to find relevant documents for discovery. “We have comparatively very competent lawyers who speak English there and have gone through rigorous law school training,” he said. And the rates are cheaper, although that could change in the future.

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Outsourcing Hits The Legal Sector

It looks like businesses finally got tired of the unreasonable fees imposed by the legal community.  Now, they’re going out of the country to receive basic legal services for a fraction of the cost.  I understand why legal services shouldn’t necessarily come cheap: you’re paying for the expertise.  Plus, many lawyers have student loans to pay in addition to overhead, benefits, et cetera.  But $400 an hour?  A bit much.

India’s legal outsourcing industry has grown in recent years from an experimental endeavor to a small but mainstream part of the global business of law. Cash-conscious Wall Street banks, mining giants, insurance firms and industrial conglomerates are hiring lawyers in India for document review, due diligence, contract management and more. . . .

Employees at legal outsourcing companies in India are not allowed by Indian law to give legal advice to clients in the West, no matter their qualifications. Instead, legal outsourcing companies perform a lot of the functions that a junior lawyer might do in a American law firm.

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New Attorneys Continue To Get Slammed By Economy

Peachy, just peachy.  I wonder who will pay off all those law loans?

A survey of 114 law firms chronicles the tough job market for summer associates, finding a 44 percent drop in the number hired this year.

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