What Today’s Outsourcing Boom Means for Legal Practice

When Thomson Reuters announced its acquisition of one of India’s largest legal outsourcing firm late last year, we wanted to know: Is the legal information giant entering into direct competition with its law firm clients? Are general counsel eager to bypass traditional firms in favor of less expensive ancillary legal service providers for routine work?  

ABA Journal Podcast moderator Stephanie Francis Ward asks our guests what an outsourcing boom, both overseas and in the U.S., means for today’s large and small legal practices and the future of the profession.

Business of law reporter Rachel Zahorsky @LawScribbler tweeted their conversation live using the Twitter hashtag #ABAJchat.

Listen to the Podcast

In This Podcast:

Stephanie Francis Ward and Rachel M. Zahorsky
Michael D. Bell is the founder and managing principal of Fronterion LLC, independent legal process outsourcing advisory firm. Bell works with large law firms, helping them structure and implement legal outsourcing engagements.

David Curle is the director and lead analyst of the Burlingame, Calif., research and advisory firm Outsell Inc. The business focuses on publishing and information industries, and Curle specializes in legal, tax and regulatory information, including legal publishing.

Cassandra Burke Robertson is an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio. Her scholarship focuses on organizational theory and institutional choice within a globalizing practice of law.

Brian Robinson is the president of Counsel Press, a company that since 1938 has assisted lawyers in preparing, filing and serving both state and federal appeals. He currently practices out of the company’s New York City office.