Globalization
Legal Outsourcing Firms and Revenue Increasing Dramatically in India
NewYorkTimes.com
The New York Times reports that the number of legal outsourcing firms in India has jumped from 40 in 2005 to 140 in 2009, and revenues are expected to grow from $440 million this year to over $1 billion by 2014. The Times quotes David Wilkins, Faculty Director of Harvard’s Program on the Legal Profession, who observes that “[t]his is not a blip, this is a big historical movement.” Clifford Chance’s Mark Ford, who manages his firm’s “Knowledge Center” south of New Delhi, agrees, stating that “the toothpaste is out of the tube.”
The Legal Profession is “Going Global,” but Obstacles Remain in Some Countries
Economist.com
The legal profession’s momentum in “going global” appears to be unstoppable, but some nations are enforcing limitations. In China and Brazil, for example, foreign firms have flourished by providing advice on international law, but they are not permitted to provide legal representation in local courts. And India remains a “determined outlier among fast-growing Asian economies,” according to the Economist, because the country is closed in all respects to foreign lawyers, something the British government is lobbying to change.
Legal Business Increasingly Shifting from East to West
IBANet.org
London and New York have long stood as “the dual-beating hearts of the legal market for decades,” but large global deals from BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are changing international legal and business dynamics. And with domestic law firms in China and India enjoying exclusive access to servicing many of these deals, they are poised for enormous growth.
Innovation and New Models
Legal Services Board Reports on “Changing Mindsets” in the UK Legal Profession
CPAGlobal.com
The United Kingdom’s Legal Services Board (LSB)—a new and independent body responsible for overseeing the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales with the goal of reforming and modernizing the legal services market place—has released its first annual report. The report examines new ideas regarding the ownership and operation of legal services firms, including alternative business structures (ABS) where companies not typically in the legal industry add specialist legal services to their offerings. The LSB notes that lawyers “have begun to open up to ABS and consider its potential,” concluding that ABS could lead to a “greater customer focus among legal services providers”.
How to Start a Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) Business
LegallyIndia.com
SDD Global Solutions’ Sanjay Bhatia offers advice regarding creating a legal process outsourcing (LPO) business. Bhatia argues that there is a significant disparity between perception and reality in the LPO industry, and that most start-up LPOs are unaware of what is required to succeed in this relatively new industry.
Corporate Counsel
The General Counsel as Lawyer-Statesman
law.harvard.edu/programs/plp
According to PLP Distinguished Senior Fellow, Ben W. Heineman, Jr., the General Counsel is a “lawyer-statesman” whose responsibilities are broad, and include “leadership, or shared responsibility, not just for the corporation’s legal matters but for its positions on ethics, reputation, public policy, communications, corporate citizenship, country and geopolitical trends.” In the first of our “blue paper” series of essays and opinion pieces, Heineman explores the how mission of the corporation and the role of inside lawyers inform the future of the General Counsel’s purview.
Hewlett-Packard’s General Counsel Hires Directly From Law School
Law.com
Hewlett-Packard General Counsel Michael Holston hired four lawyers straight from law school—one from Harvard, two from Northwestern and another from the University of California at Berkeley—pursuant to the belief that “we can better develop lawyers in-house right now than we can by hiring from a law firm at a more junior level.” Berkeley’s Assistant Dean says this is the first time a corporate law department recruited on the Berkeley campus since at least 2002.
“Disconnect” Between Legal and IT Departments Worsening
Law.com
New research indicates that only 27 percent of survey respondents felt that IT and Legal departments were “working more closely together this year than the year before,” a particularly troubling downward trend when most large U.S. corporations are facing an average of 500 lawsuits at any given time. In fact, 72 percent of survey respondents stated that the IT and legal departments met once per quarter (or less); 52 percent replied that such meetings occurred just once a year (or less); and 23 percent indicated that the IT and legal teams never met during the year.
What Do In-House Counsel Really Think of Outside Law Firms?
InsideCounsel.com
A survey of more than 550 senior legal executives explored the current state of their legal departments, as well as their relationship with outside counsel. Among the findings from respondents: 90 percent indicate that economic conditions are increasing pressure to spend less on outside counsel; 41 percent believe law firms “understand their business”; 70 percent gave their outside counsel “B” grades; and General Counsels sometimes prefer “good enough, if imperfect” results in contrast to the costly “perfect work” law firms often strive to deliver.
In-House Positions Cut and Salaries Flat in 2009
AmLaw.com
A survey of salaries and benefits received by in-house lawyers in key markets around the globe found that salaries remained largely flat in 2009, and that legal departments in the United States cut more positions than their European counterparts, who were more inclined to freeze or reduce salaries.
Law Firms and Practice Management
Use of Contract Attorneys on the Rise
Law.com
Law firms and corporate law departments are increasingly using contract attorneys to help address increasing workloads with decreasing budgets.
Former Milbank Partner Criticizes “Big Firm Profit Model” and Creates His Own Firm Using Alternative Billing Methods
Law.com
Litigation partner Gregory Evans says he left Milbank Tweed due to the “unbearable tension” between law firm profit structures and client needs, and created a new firm that will consider alternative billing methods such as contingency or partial contingency fees, reduced billing rates and performance-based bonuses. At least one major client, Sherwin-Williams, is following Evans to his new firm.
Diversity
Survey Reveals Women’s Dissatisfaction with Law Firm Compensation Systems
Pardc.org
A compensation survey found that more than half of women equity partners (and only one-third of income and minority partners) are satisfied with their compensation systems, due primarily to problems regarding transparency, origination credit, lack of compensation committee diversity, subjectivity, exclusion from client pitches, and self advocacy/self-promotion, among other factors. The report also found that a significant number of women partners have been “de-equitized”.
Attorney Regulation and Ethics
Australia Launches Survey on National Legal Profession Reform
Australia’s National Legal Profession Reform Project seeks to create a single national market for legal services, as well as to improve regulation of the legal profession. The Project has engaged an independent consultant to perform a nation-wide consumer survey that will solicit input from consumers with respect to the creation of a national legal profession.
Legal Education
ABA Investigates U.S. News Rankings of Law Schools and the Magazine’s Proposed Rankings of Law Firms
Law.com
In February 2010 the ABA’s House of Delegates voted to investigate U.S. News & World Report’s law school rankings and the weekly magazine’s proposal to rank law firms. While the ABA’s investigation into the latter is ongoing, the ABA has completed its investigation into law school rankings, concluding that “for better or for worse, U.S. News rankings will continue for the foreseeable future to dominate public perceptions of how law schools compare, and that there is relatively little that leaders in legal education can do to change that in the short term.”
A copy of the ABA’s July 15, 2010 report can be found at: http://www.abanet.org/legaled/nosearch/Council2010/OpenSession2010/F.USNewsFinal%20Report.pdf
Former Law Firm Partner Teaches Duke Law Course on Lawyers’ Well-Being
TheCareerist.typepad.com
Vivia Chen interviews Dan Bowling, a former law firm partner and head of human resources at Coca-Cola, who will be teaching a course at Duke Law School on lawyers’ well-being. While recognizing that “pessimism” can actually lead attorneys to perform their jobs better, Bowling argues that “lawyers suffer from depression, anxiety, alcoholism, and suicide more than any other profession” and “we shouldn’t have such a large number of our membership be miserable.”
Northwestern and Jones Day Jointly Criticize August Interviewing and the Firm Moves its Interviews to September
TheCareerist.typepad.com
In an unusual joint press release, Northwestern University Law School and Jones Day jointly criticized the traditional compressed August interview schedule for law firm hiring, and Jones Day announced that it would interview Northwestern students in September and hire at least as many Northwestern students under the new arrangement as it has in recent years.
Professional Development
Market for Law Graduates Faced New Challenges in 2009
NALP.org
The National Association for Legal Career Professionals (NALP) reports that the job market for law graduates in 2009 was very different than it was for the classes that immediately preceded it, primarily because graduates were more likely to be working part-time, as solo practitioners, in temporary jobs that do not require a JD, or working but still looking for another job. The percentages of graduates choosing private firms, business and public sector jobs remained similar to prior years.
Older Lawyers Resisting Forced Retirement
Online.WSJ.com
For decades many law firms have required mandatory retirement and de-equitization once lawyers reached certain ages, but older attorneys—and the U.S. Employment Opportunity Commission—are increasingly challenging these policies.
One in Four British Associates Plan to Leave Legal Profession Within the Year
future-lawyers.co.uk
Among other findings, a recent report concludes that nearly a quarter of British associates surveyed are planning to leave the legal profession in the next year. Of those planning to leave, one-third cited poor work/life balance as a major factor, while 10% cited personality and management issues; 8% hoped to take a career break and 16% wished to leave law entirely. Via LawCareers.net.