Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Outsourcing of U.S. jobs extending to the legal field

By Tom Mcghee From Azcentral

In the latest example of job outsourcing, lawyers and legal assistants across the world are now doing routine legal work originating from the United States."There are no more boundaries," said John Tredennick, CEO and founder of Denver-based CaseShare Systems. "That doesn't mean walking into the courtroom, but beyond that, there isn't anything that can't be done with the Internet."Among other things, Tredennick's company manages electronic documents for the legal industry and partners with others to outsource work formerly done in this country by paralegals and junior attorneys. They are sending the work to India, New Zealand, Australia and South Korea.
Legal firms are motivated by the same drive for lower costs that has sent manufacturing and customer service jobs overseas. Foreign workers can perform the tasks for up to 80 percent less than their U.S. counterparts, Tredennick said.The trend is relatively new and may have limited impact on U.S. jobs. Lawyers who aren't licensed in this country can't give legal advice on American law.