Footnote on Indian Outsourcing

Thanks to Ron Friedmann at Prism Legal for a piece from the AmLaw Texas publication entitled A Smaller Legal World – More and more companies are outsourcing work overseas — where the price is right

The story describes an American company that decided to abandon its regular US counsel for legal research services. I quote:

Gorton says he hired his primary law firm (which he wishes to keep anonymous) to conduct research on legal issues in half a dozen states. The firm’s fee came to nearly $250,000.

So Gorton approached an outsourcing company he had read about in Texas Lawyer. Atlas Legal Research promised its Indian lawyers could complete the same work at a fraction of the cost.

Gorton says the promise rang true: Atlas Legal charged less than a tenth of the American law firm’s price. Gorton says he “used a fine-toothed comb” to review the work and was pleased. “They could get research done for pennies on the dollar. It was good, solid work,” he says. “I became a huge believer.”

The Atlas website carries a testimonial from the happy lawyer/CEO:

Dear Mr. Dhir
I just wanted to thank you and your staff at Atlas for being a tremendous resource for TelaDoc. When we were first introduced by one of my trusted business associates, I was faced with the possibility of spending nearly a quarter million dollars for some legal research that was necessary for the growth of the TelaDoc business. You may not be aware, but I had a small portion of that research complete when we hired Atlas. As a test, I had your team reproduce some of the same work as my nationally recognized law firm. The legal research and opinions that your team produced was, essentially identical, with the exception of the price tag. Your group saved me nearly 90%, AND completed the work in less than half the time. For clarification, the research you did in less than 1 month, saved TelaDoc over $200,000.
As a lawyer, I have a tremendous respect for what your organization accomplished. Similarly, I feel qualified to comment on the caliber and efficiency of your work. Please feel free to use this letter as a reference to any organization interested in using your services. I will be happy to take any calls from prospects that are considering using Atlas Legal.

The pricing tops out at 2/3 of a Canadian articling student at Bay Street rates:

Per-Project Services (Ideal for Smaller Law Offices and Businesses)

Time Frame Cost

5 Days or more $60.00 per hour

3 Days $65.00 per hour

48 Hours $70.00 per hour

24 Hours $80.00 per hour

The next day by 9:00am CST $90.00 per hour

5% Discount for projects exceeding 100 hours
5% Discount for pre-payment

These are the first firm figures I’ve seen for outsourced legal research. The business model bears close examination.

The Indian push is getting more aggressive according to India Courts Western Law Firms