| Houston,
November 12: India has huge potential in legal
outsourcing, with the number of jobs in the field
increasing to 79,000 by 2015, a study by an American
research firm has said.
Though India
had earned over $6.7 billion in US-based outsourcing
services such as software and call centres till
march 2005, the field of legal outsourcing was
largely untapped, the study conducted by Forrester
said.
The study estimated that jobs in the field which
was poised to increase dramatically from about
$80 million annually to approximately $4 billion,
would grow to 29,000 in 2008, 35,000 by 2010,
and 79,000 by 2015.
At present the number of jobs in legal outsourcing
in India stood less than 12,000, it said.
Outsourcing would reduce costs
for US customers as the rates for Indian legal
workers were about 10 to 20 per cent of their
American counterparts.
"Indian outsourcing offers
the following economic advantages: a significant
wage differential with Indian firms report paying
legal researchers around $12,000 per year. There
are also savings in perks, overhead, and working
conditions," the study said adding time zone
differences allowed for overnight and 24X7 operations.
So far, the legal services work
consisted of paralegal, secretarial, and litigation
support. However, according to the financial consulting
firm, fulcrum financial inquiry, Indian firms
now offered more valuable services, including
contract review and monitoring, document review
for due diligence, patent drafting, simple filings
and legal research.
However, the study said these
advantages were not without challenges, but none
insurmountable.
The most important challenges
to legal outsourcing to India included concerns
about data security, conflict of interest rules,
and the need for Indian lawyers to pass US bar
examinations.
Interestingly, the need for India-based
lawyers was being addressed through American law
schools and immigration policies.
Legal talent was being schooled
in the US, but American education visas allowed
these students to stay in the country for only
a short time after graduation. Many who studied
in the US came back to work for legal outsourcers,
the study said.
It said more than 200,000 Indians
graduate from law schools each year, five times
more than in the US.
Participants in the study included
law firms, in-house law departments of multinational
firms like GE, Bayer and outsourcers having a
legal group.
Press
Trust of India
Posted online: Saturday, November 12, 2005 at
1139 hours IST
Updated: Saturday, November 12, 2005 at 1536 hours
IST
|
