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Part - VI

• Foreign law firms (say, Allen & Overy, Baker & McKenzie, and Hammonds Direct, affiliated with Indian companies - third party service providers).
  
  Legal companies that have taken the BPO route claim benefits ranging from increased profitability, to economic growth viability and improved industry stature to heightened customer centricity. With back office functions out of the way, these players are now focusing on key areas such as client development and retention, mentoring of associates, enhancing knowledge sharing among the firm's lawyers, cutting the rate of partner and associate churn and transforming the company into a learning organization.

• According to Manish Modi, CEO, Datamatics Technologies, besides legal firms, there are several other firms which outsource to India like Legal Information Publishing Companies (say, West/Thomson, through pilot offices) including online information providers, book publishers, litigation support companies and even accounting firms. DuPont is already well known to outsource legal work.

Your will, the legal research for your mortgage or the proofreading of your lawsuit could soon come with a "Done in India" label.

• Most of the outsourcing of legal work seems to be coming to India because English is spoken here, the legal system is similar to America's and salaries are much cheaper.

• In most cases, the work is done by Indian lawyers or paralegals. It is seen that many Indians formally qualified in US and UK law and with good work experience are fast shifting profession from active legal practice to deal with the outsourced legal work. The credentials of Indian legal professionals are better than those in China and Israel that they are quick to pick up the needs of their clients.

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*Contributed by -
Shuchi Singla,
Global Business Operations, Semester-11,
Shri Ram College Of Commerce,
University Of Delhi.