The growing trend of outsourcing
In law school, no one ever warned us of impending competition with cheap labor overseas. I mean, lawyers don’t exactly make a living with their hands, which is typically the kind of work that gets outsourced, right?
Wrong. As it turns out, people overseas not only know how to wield a hammer for lower wages, they’re also quite intelligent. Recent survey shows that over half of the participants have outsourced or are considering outsourcing legal work. In my opinion, lawyers will not adjust their business models to accomodate these changes until it’s too late. Lawyers will never be commoditized due to our unique skill sets (unless our judicial system changes, it will always take a professional to navigate the procedural nuances of the law). But nevertheless, lawyers will be forced to drop their rates in order to compete with the other lawyers that will be leveraging offshore assistance.
January 20th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
I agree that outsourcing will force lawyers to compete more effectively, but firms that focus on adding value will beat the ones advertising lower rates. This is especially true in our current economic climate.
How long do you think it will it take the outsourcing factor to be noted in law school?
BTW, the new design looks great!
January 21st, 2009 at 3:19 pm
It’s all about adding value, isn’t it. I think law schools will start hinting at outsourcing in a few years. LPO (legal process outsourcing) still needs to further ingrain itself in the business models of most law practices. Plus, since students are not expected to be running their own businesses out of law school, it might not be a good topic for them. Just my thoughts.
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:11 am
Sounds like part of the answer to the billable hours thread.