Business Week reports in Subcontinental Drift (1/16/06, $) that a growing number of Westerners go to India to work for outsourcing companies. Are lawyers next?
The article notes that
“firangis – or foreigners – have always been part of the Indian outsourcing scene. But until recently, they were mostly highly paid experts from companies that were sending their work abroad, helping the new Indian team learn the processes… Those folks are still coming to India, but they’re being joined by less-experienced people who make little more than the rock-bottom wages paid to locals that are a key draw for multinationals.”
The article focuses on young people seeking relatively low-level work. I wonder though if some US contract lawyers might not find an Indian stint rewarding. Assuming document review working conditions reported at the Temporary Attorney blog are accurate, moving to India could be a big life-style upgrade.
An offshore company seeking to offer lawyer review for responsiveness and privilege might want to seed a local team with experienced contract lawyers from the US. With the right technology to monitor review progress, it really shouldn’t matter where the lawyers sit. And clients could probably pay travel costs for a few lawyers and still come out way ahead.