Outsourcing Boom Catches Interest Of UK Law Firms

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

30 June 2003

UK law firms are looking to cash in on the recent boom in offshore outsourcing of key services in many industries, according to a report from TheLawyer.com.

Giving examples of several leading law firms which have established overseas operations in order to offer advice to UK companies on issues such as governing law, jurisdiction and enforcement, disaster recovery, data protection, local employment law, corruption, and exit management, the news service revealed that India still currently dominates the outsourcing market, closely followed by South Africa, China, and several Eastern European countries.

'At a conservative estimate, at least 40,000 jobs are expected to move offshore from the UK in the next two years,' the report revealed, adding that: 'Figures released this month by recruitment firm Adecco, however, put the figure as high as 100,000 over the next five years from within the financial services industry alone.'

Predicting that in several years, outsourcing work may become a key area of focus for UK lawyers, TheLawyer.com nevertheless cast some doubt as to the quality of some of the new 'offshoring experts' now appearing. Barlow, Lyde & Gilbert IT partner, Simon Shooter confirmed that these concerns may be well founded, explaining that:

'Outsourcing is seen by many lawyers as a relatively easy thing to do from a legal perspective, which is why we're seeing rebadged M&A lawyers getting into these deals and calling themselves outsourcing specialists. There aren't that many real specialists in outsourcing.'

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