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.

When a client emails a request an American lawyer appraises it and then assigns the case to an Indian lawyer who researches, analyses and writes it.
As a result of this, LegalEase is not obliged to contact other business partners to do the ground work.
It is but natural that lawyers are not very comfortable with the process initially. Perhaps they worry that their jobs may be next in line for replacement. This is not true. There will always be a need for capable lawyers excelling at cross-examining witnesses, and composing complicated legal briefs and in taking depositions that require a comprehensive knowledge of a specific case. Such lawyers will be valued assets and an integral part of any firm. So perhaps legal outsourcing may provide an incentive for excelling at the job!