Offshore Legal Outsourcing Panacea or Pandoras Box?

by Gavin Birer on August 13th, 2008

In this, the first of hopefully many columns, I wante to ta!e a few moments to introuce
myself" #y name is Gavin Birer an I am the founer an presient of the first $anaian
offshore legal outsourcing company" I am calle to the Bar in %ntario an amitte as an
attorney in the &upreme $ourt of &outh Africa" #y legal e'perience is as a corporate
commercial lawyer, practicing in Bay &treet law firms an in(house as a General
$ounsel"
)his month*s column is going introuce you to the offshore legal outsourcing inustry
+also commonly !nown as ,legal process outsourcing- or ,./%-0" &ubse1uent columns
will provie a more in epth loo! at the ./% inustry, Inia as an offshore estination,
information security, the avantages an isavantages of ./%, an of course, I will
provie you with ifferent views an news on ./%, both in $anaa an abroa"
/araigm shift
As you well !now, law firms an in(house legal epartments face a plethora of
challenges" A growing eman for legal services2 greater volume of wor!2 higher
e'pectations2 1uic!er turnaroun times2 higher lawyer salaries2 higher operating costs2
reuce bugets an lawyer attrition are some of the challenges that lawyers face toay"
3hether you li!e it or not, these challenges constantly change the status 1uo" 4ave you
hear the phrase ,something has got to give-5
.egal services have traitionally been provie e'clusively by ,locally 1ualifie-
lawyers, paralegals an law cler!s" )he conventional approach to proviing legal services
has historically been that all legal services woul comman a premium price, because the
e'pertise re1uire to provie the services coul not easily be uplicate" )he legal
lanscape is changing rapily ue to technology, globali6ation, an commoiti6ation2 an
it is ue to these changes that the prospect of offshore legal outsourcing is now viable"
7or those who are unfamiliar with the concept, the phrases ,offshore legal outsourcing-
or ,./%- simply refer to the contracting out of legal wor! that was previously one by
lawyers +paralegals or law cler!s0 within a law firm or legal epartment, to an e'ternal
thir party in a ifferent country" Inia has uneniably become the primary estination for
./% services" In a worl that is ,flat- +many of you have li!ely rea )homas ."
7rieman*s famous boo! ,)he 3orl is 7lat-0, sening certain types of legal wor! to
Inia is becoming an attractive proposition for law firms an legal epartments"
In my view, these changes are nothing short of a paraigm shift in the legal services
inustry"
What legal services can be outsourced?
.awyers generally serve as legal avisers to their clients2 an perform 1ualitative, s!ill(
intensive legal tas!s +or at least that*s the goal0" By contrast, offshore legal outsourcing
venors typically perform 1uantitative, ,lower(s!ille- legal tas!s, an serve as a support
to their law firm an legal epartment clients" )his support is crucial where a law firm or
legal epartment is uner(resource 8 particularly where the law firm or legal epartment
nees to gear up perioically uring busy perios"
)he nature of wor! that can be outsource is varie an inclues ocument review,
ocument rafting, legal research, ue iligence, an much more" )he main category of
wor! that is increasingly being outsource offshore with a high egree of success is
ocument review" 9ocument review wor! coul inclue a review of ocuments for
litigation purposes +e"g" iscovery0 or corporate commercial purposes +e"g" ue iligence
or creating an maintaining contract atabases0" ./% venors typically wor! closely with
their law firm an legal epartment clients to ientify the ieal wor! that can be
outsource"
7or these reasons +in case you are wonering0, offshore legal outsourcing venors will
not, in my view, replace local lawyers any time soon" An besies, offshore legal
outsourcing proviers typically only provie services irectly for local lawyers"
&o is offshore legal outsourcing a /anacea or /anora*s bo'5 As a lawyer, the answer to
that 1uestion shoul clearly be ,it epens-" It epens on the specific facts an
circumstances" It*s my hope an goal that this column will strip away some of the hype
an the hysteria surrouning this burgeoning inustry 8 an inustry which has arguably
brought about one of the most funamental changes in the practice of law toay"
:ltimately, I thin! that ./% will become a ubi1uitous service, proviing benefits to the
legal inustry as a whole an to the clients that they serve" &tay tune"
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