Learning to Live with Outsourcing

I agree with Laurel Oates’ earlier post that outsourcing legal work is here to stay.  Despite the belief by some that the financial downturn may have lessened the growth of LPOs, quite the opposite seems to be the case.  For example, the largest sourcing firm in India, Pangea3, had one Mumbai office with about 100 attorneys when Laurel, Mimi Samuel, and I visited there in January 2007.  Pangea3 now has three Mumbai offices and 240 attorneys.

They’re Outsourcing What?

At this past weekend’s Global Legal Skills IV Conference, held at Georgetown Law Center, my colleagues Anne Enquist, Mimi Samuel and I made a presentation on the outsourcing of legal services.  The most common reaction was disbelief.  “Well, yes, maybe corporations and law firms are outsourcing back office functions like document reviews, but are you sure that U.S. corporations and law firms are outsourcing legal research, the drafting of memos and briefs, and the drafting of contracts and patent applications?”

Our answer is, yes we are sure. While the numbers vary from source to source, almost every source suggests that the outsourcing of legal work is becoming big business – potentially generating revenues of $640 million by the end of 2010.