Law Practice Management Asked and Answered Blog

Category: Offshore Outsourcing

Question:

Our firm is beginning to consider off-shore outsourcing. Our clients are asking about this as a service delivery option. Do you have suggestions?

Response:

Off-shore outsourcing is the new frontier. While there are opportunites and benefits that can result there are also pitfalls. Here are our thoughts:

Do your homework. Proceed with caution and do extensive due dilligence.
What are reasons, objectives, for such an arrangement?
Do a search for potential vendors? Ask other law firms who they are using and what their experience has been?
Obtain a certified photo of the vendor's premises.
Insure that the vendor has appropriate data security in place at their premises.
Insure that the vendor has third party audits conducted.
Obtain vendor references.
Verify vendors past history with clients.
Review vendor contracts.
Determine how money will be transferred.
Check into liability issues and coverage with your malpractice insurance carrier and insure that the vendor has professional liability insurance.
Check ethic rules.
Look into client privilege issues.
Research export control issues.
Obtain client consent in writing.
Start with a small pilot project and then initially on small projects at are not subject to export control rules.

Start slow with a small project and monitor results. Build up your initial experience.

John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC