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While legal research associates in offshore units are busy preparing the case, their rivals - US lawyers, sleep. As such the company works 24 hours. The pay packets offered are competitive and comparable to that in the IT service industry, the average compensation offered in practice is $10,000 - $12,000 per year.

Weakness: Corruption, Confidentiality & Security

We cannot ignore legal off shoring is sensitive (job security reality worries e.g. Loser is difficult to accept again). Simultaneously corruption (political) is becoming cancerous for us. Off shoring is often enabled by the transfer of valuable information to the offshore site. When such transfer include protected materials, such as confidential documents and trade secrets, protected by non-disclosure agreements, then intellectual property has been transferred or exported.

The documentation and valuation of such exports is quite difficult, but should be considered since it comprises items that may be regulated or taxable. The events such as the one in Mphasis BFL Group, Pune and Intel India are denigrating Indian business overall. Such a thing has not happened in the legal subsidiaries but it affects their business too.

Other concerns are the theft of intellectual property given the lax enforcement of intellectual property laws in overseas locations. Political corruption is an endemic problem in the third world. This problem may increase offshore business costs and difficulties through the illegal bribes, avoiding the negative consequences of competitors bribing the system, management cost of negotiations with officials, risk of breached contracts, and risk of detection of any illegal activity by outside organizations. As such till now, no problems have been reported in Indian context but this can't be left out.

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* Contributed by: -
Manas Ranjan Mishra,
Has served as Production Manager at RCIL, Rourkela,
Currently M.B.A I-Year student of Indian Institute of Information Technology & Management, Gwalior.