General Management @ Knowledge Zone


Legal Outsourcing

- by Maushami Dasgupta *

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Part - III

English Law Genesis of Indian Law

  • India is at the forefront of outsourcing. This is due to technical maturity, cost advantages and the productivity gains firms receive. Law firms, legal departments of major corporations and state and federal government are increasingly following the BPO route to reduce cost and increase efficiency. Outsourcing allows them to remain competitive and serve more clients. It has become an indispensable asset to legal community. Today, India is one of the most exciting emerging markets in the world. Skilled managerial and technical manpower that match the best available in the world and a middle class whose size exceeds the population of the USA or the European Union, provide India with a distinct cutting edge in global competition.

  • Many large law firms are considering outsourcing some of their research and document preparation to overseas employees. Employees with law degrees in countries such as India can do great work and companies outsourcing can save a large amount of money. The majority of the work is going to India because English is spoken there, the legal system is similar to Britain's and salaries are much cheaper. In most cases, Indian lawyers or paralegals do the work. It may only be a matter of time before outsourcing becomes a mainstream practice for the legal profession.

  • Offshore workers work for a fraction of the price, for example, could handle much of the work being done by junior associates. Use of offshore providers, the thinking goes, would allow firms to continue to handle matters profitably and give clients the discounts they demand.

  • Advances in technology mean that solicitors can drastically reduce the number of legal secretaries they employ, and shift their jobs to India for less than half the cost.

  • Indian firms are more productive because they work six days a week, not five, and they start work 5.5 hours before the UK.

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* Contributed by -
Maushami Dasgupta,
LLB, Campus Law Centre, Delhi University.
Currently working as Senior Exec.-Legal with a subsidiary of Escorts Finance Ltd.
www.indialegal.net