It is now commonly accepted business practice to adopt outsourcing as a means of refocusing organisations on core matters, reducing non-core operational risk, improving quality and staff morale and reducing cost. Although law firms have been relatively slow on the uptake to date, the legal sector can still take advantage of outsourcing and offshoring. Magic circle giant Clifford Chance has led the field by moving back office and secretarial support to its own office in India, in order to carry out much of the company’s administrative work. The outsourcing programme is expected to yield more than £9.5m in annual savings. Similarly, Pinsent Masons announced a deal to offshore its bulk typing and transcription services as part of a move to change the role of its secretaries.
Lawyers and their support teams exist to serve their clients’ requirements. Clients’ requirements are always satisfied directly by lawyers in a personal relationship. The success of any law partnership is dependent on the successful delivery of services to clients by all the lawyers in the firm. However, at the moment a series of challenges have surfaced which has made this more difficult: escalating costs; lack of office space; backlogs in letter production and documentation due to staff shortages; the necessity of using temporary staff to alleviate short-term staff shortages; changes to the Legal Services Bill and a lack of qualified staff. Legal process outsourcing is undoubtedly an option that can help law firms address key challenges, but only if done correctly.
