If you were not an attorney...

Attorney, lawyer, solicitor, advocate, barrister or counsel - different names but same profession and similar personality traits as well. A person whose profession is to give legal advice and assistance to clients and represent them in court or in other legal matters. In different countries they are called by various names.  Clients demonstrate full trust in them and reveal all of their ins and outs to make their case stronger. An attorney's tasks as a spokesperson of clients, a representative of the legal system, and a public citizen are usually melodious. On the other hand conflicting responsibilities are also often encountered when there is a clash between lawyer's responsibility to a client and the lawyer's own sense of personal honour, including responsibility to society and the legal profession.

"If there were no bad people there would be no good lawyers" [Charles Dickens The Old Curiosity Shop]

"I'm trusting in the Lord and a good lawyer" [Oliver North]

"I don't want a lawyer to tell me what I cannot do; I hire him to tell me how to do what I want to do" [J. Pierpoint Morgan]

"A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns" [Mario Puzo The Godfather]

Attorneys possess very unique characteristics and it’s really hard to relate them to an alternative profession.  They are very task oriented and speak their mind and are often seen as the most argumentative personalities on the planet. Very high scorers on knowledge, they value education and take pleasure in academic activities. Attorneys are resistant to authority and sceptical of others. Wanting perfection in whatever they do, they normally become overly critical and tensed (excited) even on the misplacements of commas in a document. When it comes to lifestyle they prefer environments that are stylish, entertaining, and flexible.

It is very tough to think of a society where there are no attorneys because Law is the system of rules of conduct recognized by the government of a society to correct wrongs, uphold the solidity of political and social authority, and deliver justice.  Attorneys are the ambassadors of the legal system of any country and are experts in the way their country’s rules and government operate. If there were no attorneys, I think, there would not be any law because they are the actual caretaker of a country’s law and order. A common man does not know much about the laws and in the absence of proper guidance laws might be violated. In other words every citizen need a representative not only to get him justice but in every phase of life.

After discussing this with many attorneys and even those who are not into profession I reached a conclusion that most of them could not think themselves beyond this line of work.  I know most of the readers of this post would be attorneys and would really like to see their opinion if they ever thought of this. I am sure even those who complain about the profession never wish to think beyond law as the line of work.

About Draft n Craft

Established in 2008, Draft n Craft is a cut to the chase Legal Process Outsourcing Company with strong and dedicated work force of professionals. Having established a brilliant track record, Draft n Craft has been partners of growth to many of the law firms and corporations in the UK and US. Draft n Craft’s supreme focus has always been on helping lawyers deliver the best value to their clients by working on process and technology optimization, and by devising ways to rationalize client’s operational spending. 

Draft n Craft: The Journey So Far..

Over four years in to its existence, Draft n Craft has made its special place in this ever growing legal outsourcing industry.  Starting out in the heart of the city of Delhi with a few people, Draft n Craft has grown 10 folds since 2008.

Draft n Craft team has always tried to share its knowledge and thoughts with the whole industry.  We made our first attempt at this by hosting a seminar in London in June 2009, which was attended by some of the prestigious law firms in England & Wales.  Since then, there has been no looking back.  We have been and continue host  numerous webcasts on different areas of interest ranging from service specific subjects like legal research, document review, contract outsourcing solutions and legal transcription to industry specific sessions.

Draft n Craft has continued to add value in to the legal outsourcing industry by representing itself at various domestic and international events.

Continuously trying to do something new and innovative, Draft n Craft, ensures a customized delivery model for each of its clients to suit their requirements.  Infact in 2010, we came out with a new and unique delivery model called AptCaptive^®.  A change welcomed by many who were considering outsourcing their legal and paralegal services but had their apprehensions towards it.

With advanced technology and superior team to produce quality results, the clients have been stress free in terms of the work being sent to them.  Recently, our client, an attorney from Georgia, US said, “I have to tell you that the quality of the work is excellent and is coming back practically word perfect which makes my job a whole lot easier.  Keep up the great work.!!”

Draft n Craft has always taken pride in each and every work that is carried out in the company.  It has encouraged each department and has always valued the hard work and efforts put in by the teams. 

About Draft n Craft

Established in 2008, Draft n Craft is a cut to the chase Legal Process Outsourcing Company with strong and dedicated work force of professionals. Having established a brilliant track record, Draft n Craft has been partners of growth to many of the law firms and corporations in the UK and US. Draft n Craft’s supreme focus has always been on helping lawyers deliver the best value to their clients by working on process and technology optimization, and by devising ways to rationalize client’s operational spending.

LPO - SOME WILL SOME WON’T: AN ATTORNEY’S DILEMMA

By the time I will post this blog I am sure the legal market will get few more post on this topic. However, being associated with a Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) company I could not stop myself to look for the prominent aspects and benefits of this industry. Outsourcing/Offshoring legal work was not a burning topic few years back but with the emergence of quality outsourcing companies, law firms/attorneys in US and UK are approving this concept and using the experience of global talents to enrich and add value to their core jobs. Countries like: India, Philippines, Ireland, South Africa, Mauritius, China and Brazil are proving to be effective players. Among them India being the second largest democracy with new age technology charting new grounds every moment, more than 200,000 fresh law graduate passing every year and 150 + LPO companies already providing their quality services, is leading the show. Now, when big law firms and general counsels are supporting outsourcing and find it cost effective, its time for the small and medium sized law firms and solo attorneys to look for ways to grow their reach and give their best to their clients. By sending low end jobs to the outsourcing/offshoring partner they are not only able to give more time to their core jobs but this also gives them freedom to use the credentials of their partner to add value and services to their current profiles. Below are the few points on legal process outsourcing industry specific to Indian market.

What is Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO)?

LPO refers to the service industry wherein legal and paralegal support services of the client’s firm or an individual is performed by the outsourcing party. Cost, resource and speed advantage are the levers responsible for the mushrooming of this phenomenon across the world. The common law system, huge pool of English educated attorneys, time zone advantage, quality, confidentiality and security are the factors supporting the growth of legal process outsourcing industry.

Three eminent aspects of an LPO transaction:

• The Client: From where work comes. In other words, who gives work to execute.

• The Provider/Vendor: The organization that provides the LPO services and processes the work according to needs of the clients.

• The Project: The task/work which needs to be executed.

The services provided by the LPO industry ranges from preparation of pleadings, drafting of contracts, litigation support, legal transaction, IPR, proof reading, research and due diligence. The growth and development of the legal outsourcing/offshoring industry in India will help bringing a change in the way legal services are delivered in the west. This will also help in improving the economies of different countries.

LPO industry is mounting because of mutual benefits of clients and service providers. The increasing prominence of the LPO industry in the world today, is owing to the benefits listed below:

• Cost Effectiveness: Outsourcing legal work to LPOs (India, Argentina, Philippines etc) results to a cost saving of 50-70% which facilitates an organization to gain efficiency and staying profitable in the competitive world of business. Outsourcing/Offshoring legal work is very cost effective for law firms/corporate in the UK and the USA.

• Time Zone: The time difference and the availability of 24×7 support staff encourage outsourcing of legal work even more. By outsourcing research and paralegal tasks, the in-house counsel are able to concentrate on core legal issues. As law firm attorneys or in-house counsel in the West have their dinner, their assigned work is attended to and completed in India due to the time zone advantage.

• Language: English being the language for education and business in world is an advantage. There can never be a communication gap as lawyers are well versed in English and all courts in India and many other countries function in English.

• Eminence: The Indians are known for their intelligence and intellect. The same may be applied to Indian legal brains. Indian legal professionals have brilliant proficiency in working with the tools and systems in the outsourcing industry. Their writing skills and legal knowledge enhancement has resulted in making them an important pillar of the outsourcing operations.

• Confidentiality: The most important factor in outsourcing legal services is the privacy of information of attorneys. The data outsourced by an attorney to an LPO is always privileged information. This information has to be protected so as to maintain the confidentiality of the client. At all levels, confidentiality is being maintained.

• Variety of Services: An LPO provides variety of services to its clients. Law firms and Attorneys not only cut their costs but also get various services from one service provider. Law firms/Attorneys can broaden their areas of working by relying on the back office support of an LPO.

• Resources: By outsourcing, the foreign law firm or the corporation frees its resources to concentrate on its core competencies thus increasing the client base and court appearances vis-a–vis the competitors.

Though this list above is not mutually exhaustive but is indicative of the main triggers of the industry and I would look for more points to share in my next post.

Draft n Craft specializes in outsourcing of legal and paralegal services. We have provided more than a handful of advanced solutions to various clients in the U.K. and the U.S.A.; we take immense pleasure in serving all business needs, from the very basic legal undertakings to the most complex and farthest orientations. Contact Us

Consumerism: A Demon for old-fashioned Law Firms

“It has become expensive to practice law as cost of operating a law practice is becoming prohibitive.” “People or consumers have to learn that lawyers are not in law for the fun of it but are in it to make money.” “Clients can have all of the access for which they are willing to pay.”

The above are some examples of the comments which have been made by lawyers over the internet. Not only on the internet but you will find similar responses whenever lawyers are being asked about consumerism which is becoming incipient, slowly but gradually in legal profession as well.

The demon called consumerism has already started tormenting lawyers worldwide as it is quietly squeezing their profits and leaving them with no other option but to look for innovative ways in order to survive. The profession which was once termed as golden goose is experiencing a backward inertia which is refusing to accept this brutal reality. The rise in their expenses or an alteration in the value of money has only made things worse for them. It was actually the economic pressures which led to the industrial revolution in manufacturing industry and this time it is bound to take the legal profession by storm.

But as they say “With Challenge Comes Opportunity” and therefore the imprints of the transformation can already been seen as some of the law firms have realized it beforehand. They have by now started analyzing various models that can lead to the increase in the efficiency and productivity of their firm.

Though the process of transformation is still in progress, there are some solutions that are available for the legal fraternity at present. Outsourcing is one of them, which is not new to law firms as well. Whilst it is quite common for law firms to outsource their IT, accounts, administration departments to increase their efficiency, they are still to come to terms with legal outsourcing which is just an extension and nothing else. It’s just the division of the work carried out by the lawyers and paralegals in the legal department, analyzing the monotonous and repetitive work and then allocating it to the right vendor in order to increase the efficiency and the productivity of the firm.

And this is exactly why I think that outsourcing could be a viable option if implemented properly. I’m saying this not because of the hoopla which usually surrounds outsourcing, not because of some extraordinary facts that support this industry but just because of the principle it is based upon.  Apparently, it is based on the same principle which was adopted in the times of industrial revolution which is “work specialization”. 

Having said that, if someone needs to be on even terms with this change it has to be small law firms or sole practitioners but unfortunately they are the ones who are repulsing it. Such is the struggle that the number of sole practitioner firms fell from 4,056 in March 2010 to just 3,692 by March 2011. With ABS and other legal reform coming in, I do not see the situation getting any better from here. In the end, I just want to say that the time has come for law firms to embrace the change in order to survive. 

I hope law practitioners realize the need to transform before getting engulfed in the quick sand which is spreading in the industry.

ABS - Alternative Business Structures or Additional Business Stress

Introduction of ABS in the market has added stress and competition to the already recession affected legal industry.  After the long long wait for the ground breaking change in to the legal industry, ABS finally made it through at the beginning of this year.  Although the complete effects of ABS are yet to be seen and evaluated we cannot deny that a drastic change in the ways law firms operate on a structural and financial basis is undergoing turmoil.  Some for the better and some for the worse.  We need to accept this and make our way through this storm.

Whilst understanding the effects of ABS on law firms, we see that it undoubtedly affects the law firms dealing with high volume commoditisable private client work.  That is to say that firms dealing with areas like personal injury, conveyancing, family law, wills etc. will be most affected. 

The three key things which will immediately need attention would be price paid for a service, value added services and delivery of services.  It becomes pertinent for law firms to look in to their business planning, study the market and add value to the services they are rendering. At the same time reducing the costs is significant or solicitors can sit back to see the clients drifting away and adding this service in to their shopping basket at a supermarket.

                                                              

As the great Albert Einstein once said “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”, firms need to find the doors to a new path to sustain the winds of change faced by the UK legal industry.  While many firms are either running to find a suitable partner to merge with or an external investor to pump in finances in to their firms or hire a non-lawyer to manage the show, one door which seems to be less used is the door to legal outsourcing.

Legal Outsourcing has been in this market for years now with only few key players realising the benefits of it and making use of it.  Of course if we see the graph of the last twenty years, we observe the changes and bend towards outsourcing increasing but the growth has been slow in the UK as compared to the United States.  Today a considerable number of law firms are outsourcing to offshore vendors to save time and costs.  And these law firms range from solo practitioners to the big players in the industry. 

Services of high volume, tedious in nature and to a big extent repetitive in terms of a set format, as we see majorly in the case of conveyancing is an apt service to outsource in order to save time and incur big savings in costs.  Solicitors can use that extra time in hand to give value added services to their clients and concentrate more on business planning and retaining clients.

The demand of hour is to make optimum utilisation of resources in order to reduce this additional business stress. It is time to accept the changes and move on towards finding the best way to deal with it.  The decision to move from the conventional ways of practice will open new doors which will bring in a plethora of opportunities.