Integrity Legal

At first glance, the rise of legal process outsourcing services might seem like a detriment to the legal profession in the United States of America. In this author’s opinion this is not the case as legal process outsourcing is a natural and organic by-product of gloablization and will likely lead to more demand for legal services both in the United States and throughout the world. This increasing demand should result in new business for American attorneys in the United States and abroad. This demand is likely to increase on both a local and international level as new technologies and methods of doing business create new demands for legal services.

One of the reasons that this trend is so important is due to the fact that legal process outsourcing is poised to change the very nature of legal service. Many are accustomed to the notion of a “Brick and Mortar” law office, but, like many other fields, “Brick and Mortar” enterprises are being replaced by more flexible and adaptable legal service providers that can quickly adapt to client needs and requirements. Mobile technologies and high speed internet makes it likely that flexible legal processing solutions will be sought out by more individuals and businesses in the future. That said, there are many ethical considerations that must be dealt with as legal service becomes a globalized industry. The American Bar Association has provided some insight into the ethics of legal process outsourcing, to quote directly from the ABA’s Formal Opinion on the subject of legal process outsourcing:

There is nothing unethical about a lawyer outsourcing legal and nonlegal services, provided the outsourcing lawyer renders legal services to the client with the “legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation,” as required by Rule 1.1. Comment [1] to Rule 1.1 further counsels:

In determining whether a lawyer employs the requisite knowledge and skill in a particular matter, relevant factors include the relative complexity and specialized nature of the matter, the lawyer’s general experience, the lawyer’s training and experience in the field in question, the preparation and study the lawyer is able to give the matter and whether it is feasible to refer the matter to, or associate or consult with, a lawyer of established competence in the field in question. There is no unique blueprint for the provision of competent legal services. Different lawyers may perform the same tasks through different means, all with the necessary “legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation.”One lawyer may choose to do all of the work herself. Another may delegate
tasks to a team of subordinate lawyers and nonlegal staff. Others may decide to outsource tasks to independent service providers that are not within their direct control. Rule 1.1 does not require that tasks be accomplished in any special way. The rule requires only that the lawyer who is responsible to the client satisfies her obligation to render legal services competently.

The above cited passage should not be construed as definitive. Those interested in the ethical issues arising from legal process outsourcing should read the above cited opinion in detail to obtain a deeper insight into all of the ramifications of legal process outsourcing.

In this author’s opinion, the demand for legal services in America is going to increase exponentially as more individuals and companies begin conducting business on the internet. This will lead to an increasing demand for adaptable, creative, and innovative legal services that can be provided with alacrity by American firms utilizing outsourced legal processing services. Law firms in the 21st century must be prepared to provide clients with fast effective legal service in a relatively short period of time. The upside of legal process outsourcing is that it frees up time for American attorneys to provide evermore streamlined services to increasing numbers of clients.

For related information about the impact of the internet upon legal services please see: Ecommerce.

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