British law firms outsourcing services to India to cut costs
October 31st, 2008 - 6:11 pm ICT by ANI London, October 31 (ANI): Several law firms in Britain are outsourcing legal services like conveyancing, accident claims and due diligence investigations to India in order to cut costs for the duration of the downturn.
British firms get the services of thousands of Indian lawyers and recent law graduates for a fraction of the cost they would have to bear if work was done in the country.
World”’’s largest law firm Clifford Chance is said to have set up its own bespoke offshore centre in Delhi.
Eversheds, another leading UK law firm, has also confirmed that it is taking the services of Indian lawyers.
Dozens of law firms are planning to follow suit by outsourcing hundreds of millions of pounds worth of high-volume work to India.
CPA Global, a legal process outsourcing company, said that over 30 law firms and company legal departments were in talks to use its legal support base in India, which employs 450 graduates and lawyers.
“Legal process outsourcing has been on the agenda for some time for corporations and law firms looking to reduce costs, but the economic downturn has significantly accelerated this trend. We have seen enquiries increase dramatically. At the beginning of the year, we were talking to five prospects. Now we””re in discussions with over 30 more than 20 of these being law firms and another 10 being corporate legal departments,” the Independent quoted Andrew Loach, vice president of business development at CPA, as saying.
He added: “Law firms recognise they have no control over external factors such asmarket conditions, so they are starting to focus on things they do have control over, and one of the most important is their internal cost base. Many managing partners of law firms have recognised that top-line organic growth will be difficult to achieve during 2008-2009, and that profits may suffer during this period. They have become much more receptive to assessing alternative and innovative ways of reducing their cost base to reflect current trading conditions.”
Indias large pool of English-speaking graduates, and its common law system, is what is said to be attracting law firms. (ANI)
- Bill that will allow foreign law firms through back door (Comment) - Aug 18, 2011
- Soon, UK bookstore will offer divorce advice to customers - Apr 08, 2011
- HeroITES expands Scotland operations - Aug 22, 2011
- Indian to head Asia-Pacific advocates' body - Mar 02, 2012
- Jointly fight food crisis, terrorism: Meira Kumar - Oct 26, 2010
- Kochhar and Co. partners with Middle East law firms - Aug 05, 2010
- Karnataka employment exchange secures jobs for 60 people - Nov 11, 2010
- Anglo-Oz miner becomes first to hire Indian lawyers to trim legal bill by 20 pc - Jun 18, 2009
- Outsourcing roars back to India, China - Jan 25, 2010
- Business booms for labour laws outsourcing units - Aug 19, 2010
- India should focus on infrastructure: Eversheds - May 29, 2009
- Mumbai & Shanghai to be boomtowns of post-recession world - Dec 14, 2009
- President calls for reducing litigation costs - Aug 07, 2011
- Japan's Ylem Infotech starts Indian operations - May 31, 2011
- India one of the most preferred economies for FDI: Survey - Jun 06, 2011
Tags: accident claims, clifford chance, corporate legal departments, cpa, due diligence investigations, economic downturn, eversheds, external factors, high volume, indian lawyers, law firms, law graduates, legal process outsourcing, loach, managing partners, october 31, offshore centre, organic growth, outsourcing services, volume work
