As a result, companies hoping to capitalize on these trends have
established themselves in several countries including India, the Philippines,
Israel, China and Latin America, among others. This type of outsourcing to
countries outside the US has been termed ‘offshoring.’ The offshoring of legal
services has met with mixed success due to obstacles such as language barriers,
time differences, quality concerns and ethical issues.
More recently, a new trend has developed. Sometimes termed ‘onshoring,’
a few large law firms with bases of operations in high-cost major metropolitan
areas have begun relocating a variety of their back-office or support
operations and employees to less expensive US markets with lower costs of
living and wages as well as access to communities of potential new hires. Some firms have even created new tiers of lawyers such as 'career associates' in these markets. The evolution of legal outsourcing will likely continue because it clearly can provide benefits for firms - when done correctly…
