In spite of the bar associations of New York, California and Los Angeles and others giving offshoring of legal support work by American attorneys to lawyers in other countries a clean chit, there still seems to be some apprehension about it. Large law firms have not jumped on to the band wagon as eagerly as expected and it is the smaller firms that appear to be diving in.
Let us look at one such firm, LegalEase Solutions. Based in Detroit this outsourcing business has about 50 American clients.
It has about 20 lawyers in India who perform all the regular tasks starting with researching legal precedents and proceeding to drafting briefs.
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In 2006 and 2007 the bar associations of New York, California and Los Angeles had declared their views that there appeared to be no ethical problems with the offshoring of legal support work by American attorneys to lawyers in other countries under certain conditions. Many United States attorneys and law firms are already adopting such ethical guidelines.
According to the president of SQ Global Solutions, Ram Vasudevan, this nod can only result in the Indian LPO market, currently measured at $130 million and with around 1,000 non-lawyers and lawyers, carrying out important legal outsourcing services in India, growing by leaps and bounds in the near future. In fact, according to Forrester Research, it is expected to reach $4-billion by 2015.
Vasudevan has been quoted as saying, “The guidelines state that US lawyers who are contemplating outsourcing legal services to other countries should inform their client that the work is being outsourced, besides protecting the client’s confidences. The US law firm should also be closely involved in the supervision of the outsourced work. In addition, the entity performing the work must perform conflict checks to avoid any unpleasant surprises.”
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Ernst & Young’s Associate Director of Technology and Security Risk Services, Devendra Parulekar, has been quoted as saying, “Organizations are beginning to recognize that information security can deliver more than just protection for information.” while releasing the 10th Annual Global Information Security Survey report.
The survey had been conducted in the latter half of 2007 while interviewing 1,300 senior executives in over 50 countries. Of these India, with 114 respondents, emerged as the second largest contributor.
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Intellectual Property is one of the most precious resources of your enterprise and must be properly protected. You must have your Intellectual Property safeguarded failing which you will face major problems once you start outsourcing. Your IP must be protected legally, physically and electronically.
Protecting Intellectual Property Legally
• Make an effort to understand the culture and legal system of the provider’s country.
• Learn about out how IP rights enforcement works in the country you are outsourcing to.
• Establish the country’s legal system that will regulate and have control over any agreement disputes.
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When considering outsourcing, a customer should first examine his possible associate’s capability of safeguarding private business information from embezzlement, abuse, theft, loss or damage.
Here are some things the customer should look into.
• Have you selected an established partner, one that will match your business strategy and will understand how to maintain the necessary level of security.
• What are the outsourcing vendor’s IP protection practices and data security that will protect the customer’s private information?
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While discussing the offshoring of Intellectual Property and its pitfalls the other day, it was recommended that IP due diligence and risk assessment should be employed to offset these dangers, safeguard its intellectual property as well as to identify the functions that should or should not be outsourced.
So, what does due diligence include? It may include the following:
• Identifying and documenting all of the Intellectual Property assets connected to the task to be outsourced
• Identifying which areas are of critical importance to your business
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The very nature and importance of Intellectual Property varies in different businesses and industries. The rights of the investors are caught up in it in several ways. Therefore the management of intellectual property and issues regarding data protection are extremely important for businesses that use offshoring or outsourcing.
What does this intellectual property include? It may be data, software, trade secrets, business and technology processes, patents, expertise or authorship. Some of it may even belong to third parties and will therefore require licensing.
So that the information sharing is managed effectively, both, the vendor and the customer must administer their Intellectual Property properly and maintain their business objectives. There must be definite benefits in sharing these Intellectual Property assets and they must be more important than the risks linked to outsourcing.
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The Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles will be host to the Inter-Pacific Bar Association’s 18th Annual Conference from April 27-30, 2008. The Conference Host Committee comprises representatives from some of the world’s most respected law firms. Themed “Many Borders, One World,” the conference will allow over 800 business lawyers coming from 35 different jurisdictions an opportunity to remain up to date on business law and practice developments in the Asia-Pacific region. It is also expected to provide interaction among colleagues so as to improve professional relationships.

Referring to the Conference, the 2008 Conference Chair, LLP Gerold Libby, who is also partner in the Los Angeles office of Holland & Knight, says in his message, “Los Angeles is one of the world’s most exciting and dynamic cities. It is the largest business center on the west coast of North America. Its ports are the busiest in the United States, and Southern California is home to more Asian-invested business enterprises than any other region in the western hemisphere. The IPBA 2008 Annual Conference, the first time an IPBA Annual Conference will be held in the United States in more than 10 years, will be an ideal way to learn more about this part of the world, and why many in the United States and elsewhere consider Los Angeles the gateway to Asia.”
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