In this Roundup: GCs develop lawyer ratings, Canadian firms slow to outsource, and using legal technology for recruting.
Lawyer Ratings and Why They Matter
I have previously suggested that lawyer ratings could drive lawyer efficiency. A good rating scheme should encourage efficiencies from legal technology, adopting best practices, and outsourcing / offshoring. I was interested to read Corporate Counsel: The success scale (legalweek.com, 11/1/07) about rating systems being developed by UBS, Zurich, and HSBC.
Legal Outsourcing Slow to Catch On in Canada
Two recent articles report the legal process outsourcing has yet to take hold in Canada. Outsourcing slow to catch on in Canada (National Post, 10/11/07) reports “Opportunities to outsource legal services to the common law country of India have had few takers so far from Canada.” Few law firms in Canada are outsourcing legal work to India (The Lawyers Weekly, 11/23/07) by Luigi Benneton reaches a similar conclusion. The latter does a deeper dive (and quotes me). Benneton finds that the “main carrot” for legal outsourcing is “the ability to spend more time on higher value-added activities as a huge offshore legal workforce willingly takes care of the details.”
Legal Tech for Screening Lawyer Recruits
British law firm Lovells uses an interactive test as part of its screening of lawyer recruits. Interviews are notoriously unreliable, so its intriguing to see a firm put some rigor around its recruiting and selection process.