Canadian Co. Launches Legal Outsourcing Venture
The once-unheard-of practice of routing low-level legal work to the other side of the world is becoming almost routine, and a new Canadian company hopes to increase that trend.
Starting this week, lawyers in Canada have the option of using a new Toronto-based company called Legalwise to handle their legal outsourcing work, reports the Vancouver Sun. Legalwise, which was founded by Gavin Birer, an Ontario, Canada, attorney, reportedly now has 430 Indian attorneys working for the company out of Mumbai and Punei, India.
At estimated savings of 30 to 70 percent, Indian lawyers trained in the same British common-law tradition as their Canadian counterparts can “review documents, draft contracts, abstract a lease, perform due diligence or research and deliver a host of other services that a lawyer here in Canada would normally assign to a junior or an assistant,” the newspaper writes.
There are potential outsourcing pitfalls, however, including liability risks, as a previous ABAJournal.com post has noted concerning United States legal standards.
But, according to Birer, his service operates in the role of legal support staff: “We’re not replacing local lawyers,” he says. “Some elements of local legal work simply can’t be replaced. We’re a service provider. We’re there to help lawyers do what they do more efficiently.”
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Outsourcing Alternative: Law Firm Sets Up Own Shop in India”
ABAJournal.com: “More Gen’l. Counsels Mull Outsourcing Options”
ABAJournal.com: “1st Legal Outsourcing Summit: Good Contracts Needed in Growing Industry”
ABAJournal.com: “Hollywood Outsourcing Higher-End Legal Work to India”
ABA Journal: “Manhattan Work at Mumbai Prices”
