The key legal issue while considering off shoring Legal Process Outsourcing to India would be, whether the work performed by the Legal Process Outsourcing Companies (LPO) or Knowledge Process Outsourcing Companies (KPOs) constitutes an unauthorized practice of law? The simple answer is that, works performed by the LPO / KPO would not constitute an unauthorized practice of law if the work is performed under supervision of a licensed attorney.
For understanding further we can take a scenario wherein a U.S Law firm sends legal works to an Indian LPO, after getting approval from the client. The LPO in India under the supervision of the U.S Law Firm conducts research and drafts the assignment using Lexis and Westlaw databases for the Law Firm after analyzing the issues framed by the U.S Law Firm for the Client. The Licensed Attorneys in the U.S Law Firm carefully reviews and edits the assignment and then signs the material and then sends it to the client.
In this scenario there is no violation of any of the state statutes or regulations and is in compliance with America Bar Association’s rulings on ethics. Thus the unauthorized practice of law by a LPO appears to be the amount of supervision over the non-licensed lawyer / non-lawyers.
It is clear from the above that when work is done directly for a client by an LPO without having license to practice or licensed attorneys to practice respective state law, then such practice would amount to unauthorized practice of law.
If the Law Firm has direct supervisory authority over the non licensed / non lawyer LPO and takes responsibility for the conduct of the LPO in compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct, such practice would not be falling under unauthorized practice of law.
More importantly in the above given scenario the U.S Law Firm in turn exercises independent judgment in deciding how and whether to use the opinion on the client’s behalf. Thus the work performed by the LPO would not amount to unauthorized practice of law.
Conclusion:
The key issue on the unauthorized practice of law by a LPO appears to be the amount of supervision over the non-lawyer. The law on legal outsourcing is still evolving and the Bar committees of New York City (NYCBA Formal Op. 2006-3), San Diego County (SDCBA Formal Legal Ethics Op. 2007-1) and Los Angeles County ( LACBA Ethics Op. 518) have ruled that lawyers may contract with foreign lawyers not admitted to practice in any jurisdiction in the United States, or with nonlawyers outside the United States, to perform legal work for U.S. clients. These authorities hold that foreign legal outsourcing does not constitute aiding the unauthorized practice of law. “Outsourcing overseas has begun to command attention in the legal profession, as corporate legal departments and law firms endeavor to reduce costs and manage operations more efficiently.” NYCBA Formal Op. 2006-3. Underlining the fact that legal process outsourcing would not amount to unauthorized practice of law when supervisory and decision-making functions are done by licensed attorneys.
---------------
No comments:
Post a Comment