The 4th of July and Future of Legal Services

This past week we celebrated the 233rd anniversary of American independence.
Our country was founded on the principles of personal and religious freedom and also on capitalism. Some referred to it at the time `as the “grand experiment” and we have seen it work.

The basis of capitalism is the private individual using resources most efficiently to produce what the buyer wants. It’s about giving the greatest value to the client at the lowest cost. And the beauty is that both producer and consumer win in the free marketplace.


Another important factor in a capitalistic society is the forward-looking approach. Americans have not accomplished what we have by looking backwards. We did not waste resources protecting the typewriter and covered wagon industries. (Or if we did, it didn’t help!) Dramatic and seismic changes invariably occur in every business. When change is embraced, it leads to new, exceptional and dynamic industries such as the personal computer and automobile industries, respectively.


While the recent economic climate is forcing many to consider making challenging decisions faster than they have been made in the past, these changes are not directionless. The outcome of many current tough choices remain yet unseen. What will happen to the newspaper publishing industry? How will the automotive industry re-emerge from the brink of insolvency? And in our situation, how will the legal industry forever be altered?

Outsourcing legal services is now inextricably linked to changes in the legal space, and only time will tell how it will all play out. With the strength of our capitalist spirit, the result will be better than we can even imagine today. We look forward to the unfolding of the ‘grand experiment” of legal outsourcing.

Happy Fourth of July.

From Rio to Delhi

The big news in the outsourcing industry as of late is a deal between Rio Tinto and CPA Global. While it is a big win for CPA, the most exciting aspect of the engagement is the stance of Rio’s outside counsel.

According to Legalweek, Rio Tinto’s managing attorney Leah Cooper said, “Of course, I’d have much preferred if a law firm had come to me and said, ‘Hey, we’ve just entered into an arrangement with a low cost provider that’s going to save you money,’ but that didn’t happen.”

It was also interesting to note that Rio planned to use the CPA team to support not supplant their existing legal team.

“Any good business makes sure its legal team is aligned with the company’s overall needs, but we will not cut legal jobs as a result of outsourcing. The team in India is there to support, not to replace,” said Cooper.

Corporations are now finding new ways to reduce costs - at times going around their traditional legal counsel. It will be interesting to revisit this engagement after it has had some time to mature.

Tech Considerations When Sourcing

To complement my previous 6/9 post regarding technology and outsourcing, I had a couple of follow-up points about issues to consider when framing up your new engagement. Outsourced legal services are in many ways different from mechanized business process outsourcing (BPO) services. Trust me, the difference in legal sourcing is a whole other blog post. Service delivery models, personnel requirements, service solutions, and quality metrics are much different in legal sourcing. But, for the time being, take my word for it.

One area of legal outsourcing that is very similar with other forms of outsourced services is technology integration. The steps to ensure successful technology integration are fairly well established across a broad base of service functions; be it outsourcing accounting functions, medical transcription or for our purposes - legal services. Based on what we have seen, challenges may still arise when working with legal outsourcing vendors. The reasons are typically two-fold:

1. Some of the smaller legal outsourcing vendors may not have top quality infrastructure or robust process policies as compared to larger more established vendors.

2. For larger engagements or first-time outsourcers, many technology integration issues simply get lost in the shuffle.

Legal outsourcing, if done correctly, can be technologically secure and safe. The keys are taking the time to fully assess your provider (including some sort of on-the-ground due diligence) and being very meticulous throughout the entire integration process.

ABA 2009 Annual Meeting: Chicago

Mark your calendars. The American Bar Association (ABA) is holding its annual meeting in our very own Chicago this July 30th through August 4th. As usual, there will be a solid line-up of speakers, CLE courses, and vendor exhibitions along with plenty of “networking” events to go around.

To our out of town guests, please keep me apprised of your travel plans, as I would love host any of you during your stay in our lovely city.

For more information check out the ABA site (www.abanet.org/annual/2009) or contact ABA directly at abanet@xpressreg.net.

Article Sneak Peak

I recently wrapped up an article for an unnamed bar publication to be published this July. The article covers the intersection of technology and legal outsourcing. As a sneak preview to the article, here are some of the highlights.

The benefits of outsourcing legal support services come in three main areas: direct/indirect cost savings, strategic opportunities and technology benefits. Tech benefits include better utilization of existing technology applications and new solutions offered by the provider.

The article is a nuts and bolts outline guide to legal outsourcing engagement technology component and what legal firms need to look for when sourcing to outside vendors.

Keep an eye out for the article in its entirety in July.