Talk about outsourcing - law firm travels to cyberspace to market services

Some law firms are desperately hanging on to traditional ways of doing business, but some are boldly going where no law firms have gone before. I am talking about Davis LLP, a Canadian law firm whose Video Games & Interactive Entertainment Law practice group has opened a branch office in cyberspace.

No kidding! Davis LLP, who prides itself on creativity, has opened a law office in a virtual world called "Second Life."

“The virtual world of Second Life gives us the opportunity to interact with our current and potential clients in a unique way,” says Dani “Lemon Darcy” Lemon at Davis LLP. “We also aim to generate business leads and attract job candidates for our bricks-and mortar business through Second Life,” according to a story on the blog Law Vibe blog.

Maybe the virtual world is a great place for law firms to test innovation. The Second Life world has a fully-integrated economy architected to reward risk, innovation, and craftsmanship. Residents create their own virtual goods and services. Because residents retain the IP rights of their creations, they are able to sell them at various in-world venues. Businesses succeed by the ingenuity, artistic ability, entrepreneurial acumen, and good reputation of their owners. The legal profession sure could use some ingenuity.

Second Life has over 14 million “residents” and 65,000 virtual acres to develop, so I am sure they will need many more legal professionals.

I couldn’t resist a visit to the future and checked out the cyber Davis LLP. After teleporting to the closest town square, I made the short walk to the Davis waterfront offices. I didn’t find any attorneys, but settled into a comfortable leather couch in the lobby. As I sat down to relax, hoping that an associate or paralegal would peek around the corner at any minute, I suddenly began laughing at the irony. This modern, cyber law office still had massive bookshelves with legal books!

Feature article on FreelanceSwitch.com, and more

FreelanceSwitch.com, an online community of all types of freelancers, has just published an article titled "Freelancing and the Law" featuring Melody Kramer and the National Association of Freelance Legal Professionals.

"Most people think about creative careers when they consider freelancing. But not Melody A. Kramer. She’s the Co-Founder of the National Association of Freelance Legal Professionals, and has cracked the code on how legal eagles can break into freelancing, too." Read more at http://www.freelanceswitch.com/.

Other recent postings regarding legal freelancing include the following:

"Freelance Paralegals - A Balancing Act", LawCrossing, undated

"What Holds Unhappy Lawyers Back from Leaving?", Law Street Journal Law Blog, June 23, 2008

"Outsourced Legal Services", Prism Legal, undated (this article includes a survey of legal outsourcing providers and users in the US and the UK)

"Legal Outsourcing in India is Growing, but Still Confronts Fundamental Issues", Law.com, January 23, 2008

Offshore legal outsourcing sparks concerns, and marketing strategies

There has recently been an emergence of legal outsourcing companies that send work traditionally done by associates and paralegals overseas. India seems to be a common home for these practices. The work reportedly outsourced includes legal research and writing, document review, and other tasks.

As a practicing attorney, I have always felt a little queasy about foreign outsourcing of legal work, but I hadn't ever sat down and listed out the potential concerns. However, I stumbled across a recent blog entry from someone who does not even appear to be part of the legal industry, that had an amazingly insightful list of concerns that law firms and clients should have about the practice. The most troubling concern raised was that of foreign nationals having access to highly sensitive client information that could easily be sold to the highest bidder, with absolutely no recourse for the U.S. client. Other concerns with the practice of course include the inability of the responsible attorney to adequately supervise subordinates in other countries, lowered ability to confirm qualifications, and possible problems with unauthorized practice of law.

As with rising associate salaries, increases in outsourcing of legal and paralegal work, but with simultaneous concerns about the practice, present a marketing opportunity for freelancers.

Marketing efforts can focus on education about legal outsourcing as well as offering your services. For example, prepare a brochure citing the rise in legal outsourcing by law firms wanting to reduce costs, then explain how local outsourcing (i.e. outsourcing work to you) provides the same cost-cutting benefits while avoiding the possible problems inherent in offshore outsourcing.

Welcome novice law firms into the concept of local legal outsourcing with an offer they cannot refuse – a money-back guarantee or a reduced rate on your first project. Then, and above all, DO QUALITY WORK. There is no better source of referrals than satisfied customers.

How can legal outsourcing help me?

"Outsourcing" has become a buzz word in business these days, unfortunately often associated with American jobs moving overseas. However, the strategic use of outsourcing in a business is a means of providing clients with both a high quality product or service at a low cost. Select the best widget maker, the best widget distributor, and the best widget marketer and run them as a team, rather than finding someone who can perform all three functions, but not as well. (Does your 4-in-one printer/fax/copier/scanner come to mind?)

Now change the context to a law firm. The task is to write an appellate brief in an important case. Does the firm assign the most experienced counsel who can crank out a flawless brief in 50 hours flat (billable at $350/hr) or assign the 1st year associate who will take 120 hours to write a not-as-flawless brief (billable at $200/hr)? The law firm has zero incentive to use the efficient, higher quality producer. Imagine what the client would think if he/she knew?

So, how does outsourcing help the law firm? By offering a higher quality product for its client for a lower cost, and by reducing overhead. Instead of using the experienced associate who has written 20 similar briefs before, the firm uses a freelance lawyer who has written 100+ and due to low overhead only charges a $14,000 flat fee for appellate briefs. Even with a markup by the law firm, the client is paying less for a superior product. The law firm is not paying for an office, salary, or benefits for the freelancer, thus lowering its overhead.

How does outsourcing help the freelancer? By allowing the freelancer to choose the work they do best and the work environment that best suits them, while still making a good living. Instead of getting a set salary and being expected to work 70-80 hours a week with no overtime, the freelancer chooses the type of projects they do best and most efficiently and charge accordingly. An experienced appellate brief writer can write one brief a month and make more than a $150,000 salaried associate working 80/hrs a week.

Are you ready to be efficient and progressive in your career and business?