Do western lawyers have an opportunity with LPO?
Rachel Rothwell’s blog post in the Law Society Gazette poses an interesting anthropological question for observers of the globalised economy.
Will LPO pose a threat to junior lawyers? suggests the impact of Legal Process Outsourcing companies that provide low-cost volume services such as contract drafting, e-discovery or document review, will be a net reduction in the number of trainee positions available amongst the UK’s established law firms.
In short, the answer must be yes?
Comments relating to the post suggests this idea is nothing new; training budgets are often the first area to receive the slash and burn when margins are under pressure.
However if this flight to low-cost offshoring in the legal sector is inevitable, shouldn’t trainees and aspiring lawyers as well as qualified professionals themselves be looking beyond our own boarders for opportunity?
As I understand it, LPO providers like Pangea3 are actively recruiting native language speakers for the markets they serve in Europe and the United States to enhance their client relationships.
Indeed, Pangea3 was the subject of an interesting case study in the New York Times recently which followed the fortunes of an American lawyer who had taken the leap and moved to India to pursue his career in that country.
India will certainly have designs on making itself a viable expatriate destination and that future development will depend on the country accommodating western requirements. With private schools and other infrastructure already in place to meet this need, if I was a trainee looking for an opportunity to travel and work, or a professional with transferable skills I know it would certainly represent an interesting prospect.
About Ralph Savage
This is an interesting post, I have been doing some research into this concept and it seems that big law firms outsource labor, but not tasks that require legal proficiency. The ABA strictly states that all legal matters must be handled by U.S. bar certified lawyers, but labor that is normally given to incoming attorneys can be outsourced overseas. Upper level associates are relocated overseas to make sure these laborers are properly handling the assigned tasks.