Cultural differences will be what limits the offshoring. For some things like patents and loan syndication, maybe that model will work. But a divorce case? I dont think so. An American would never pose these cases in the same way that Indians do. You will need an American attorney to understand the nuances of how American juries react. There are a lot of little nuances you dont understand if you weren’t brought up in a given culture. I’ve lived overseas and there were a lot of basic things that just took a while to understand. A researcher has to understand context in order to know what is relevant.

Having an American attorney review things will only work so far.

There will be certain mistakes that people tend to make when crossing cultures… and in law, those mistakes will lead to lawsuits. Let’s see… a laid off lawyer will know what is happening in his firm on cases that he is not involved in. He will be able to sell his services to the opposing team.

Also, the ABA controls the supply of lawyers and what must be done by an attorney. They regulated the supply of lawyers to keep the wages high and they will ensure that the American lawyer’s livelihood is not severely threatened. Unlike IT workers, attorneys know how to fight back. Unlike IT,the ABA controls the credential process and regulates attorneys. The ABA will not let its members’ lifestyles suffer. Paralegals and legal secretaries are another matter.

American law is not as close to British law as Indian law is. We developed differently. There are certain fundamental differences in terms of how we view things.

I predict that the offshoring will lead to certain areas where a lot of patent work and loan syndication going offshore. But there will be a lot more legal work as American attorneys start filing lawsuits on behalf of clients. Look at the failures of IT, it took the best companies a number of trials to get it right. When law fails, you have the potential for multi-million dollar lawsuits. The effects are not always seen immediately.

Also, unlike IT, half the graduates of law firms are American women. Indian men do not like working with American women. More cultural problems. IT fired its senior women. Unlike their counterparts in IT, American women are not going to leave the IT profession quietly due to the effects of outsourcing. More lawsuits.

It will be a growth industry for the legal profession. There will be the fights of the lawyers getting laid off over discrimination and severance pay. These attorneys can file their own cases and can fight till the cows come home. They will have nothing better to do. They are sitting at home unemployed. They will go and stir trouble with their previous firms’ adversaries — they will be fully motivated to do so and they will know where the weaknesses are. How would a Fortune 500 company like to put its competitor out of business because of errors in its filings? Unlike an IT system which can bumble along, certain things in law have to be exactly right.

Funny thing is when I worked overseas, we used in-country accountants and attorneys because they understood how things worked in that country… everyone else was multi-national.

My loyal correspondent Rob Hyndman pointed out a feature article in Legal Affairs, "Are Your Lawyers in New York or New Delhi?," which takes on the pregnant issue of outsourcing with, to my mind (and Rob’s), fairly underwhelming levels of i…