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I. INTRODUCTION
News headlines revealed a depressing 2009 for law firms: cuts, cuts, and more cuts. The year 2009 marks possibly the worst year ever for layoffs in firms.1 One website reports that more people were laid off in 2009 than in all other reported years combined.2 The new year has not brought new life to law firms. The layoffs have slowed, but not ceased, and there have been "no signs of significant hiring."3 While U.S. attorneys may not have a positive outlook on the current legal job market, their counterparts halfway across the world may have a different story to tell.
Big firms, small firms, corporations, and nearly everything in between are offshoring legal work. The legal offshoring industry has grown about 60% annually. 4 While offshoring may be a tempting cost-saver, especially during tough economic times, it is time to consider the benefits, costs, and legal implications.
This Note provides insight on several issues that arise when offshoring legal work, and how those issues may be addressed. Part II provides a brief history of outsourcing and an overview of how outsourcing eventually transitioned into legal offshoring. This Part also explains the three forms in which legal offshoring services are provided. Part III outlines and analyzes several issues that offshoring presents to law firms, businesses, and licensed attorneys. This Part focuses on cost savings and other advantages that offshoring may provide, along with a discussion of significant issues and disadvantages that offshoring may cause. Part IV discusses the recent ABA opinion on offshoring and highlights that many questions still remain unanswered. Building upon the analysis in Part III, Part IV also aims to assist licensed attorneys who are considering offshoring. In addition, this Part recommends that state and local bar associations take action by: 1) providing opinions on offshoring with specific examples of ethical violations; 2) putting pressure on the offshoring industry to ensure a minimum level of competency; and 3) encouraging offshoring vendors to adhere to other standards that would preserve client confidentiality. This Note concludes that if state and local bar associations take these specific actions, licensed attorneys will benefit.
II. BACKGROUND
A. History of Outsourcing and Legal Offshoring
At the most basic level, outsourcing is nothing new.5 Many American businesses...