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Offshoring legal work to service providers in Israel

An article in Bus. Law Today, Vol. 17, Nov./Dec. 2007 at 61, differentiates offshoring to India from offshoring to Israel. The author, Ken Wollins of Green Point Legal Services, points out some disadvantages of Indian providers: promising what law departments want to hear because of cultural tendencies to avoid confrontation, a British style of speaking and writing, and capabilities more suited for simpler project-oriented assignments.

Not surprisingly, Wollins commends Israel with its “thousands of lawyers who have been raised and educated, admitted to the bar, and practiced law in the United States.” According to him, “a general rule of thumb is that cost savings of about 30 to 40% can be achieved through Israel and about 50 to 60% in Asia.”

The article concludes by saying that “even taking into account the aggressive forecasts, the total amount of legal work sent overseas will remain below 2 percent of [the $200 billion legal industry in the United States], and a considerable portion of that will be attributable to lower-skilled work that is not handled by lawyers.”

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One response to “Offshoring legal work to service providers in Israel”

  1. Ken Wollins says:

    Rees,
    Thanks for highlighting some of the points I made in the article. Those who have read “The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century” by Thomas L. Friedman, will note that what we’re offering is an extension of what he writes about – we’re moving up the value chain.
    With costs rising in Asian countries, the price/skill differential is narrowing, and the ability to source the expertise of highly skilled Americans is an appealing alternative. We’re seeing that firsthand via our operations in India. For a relatively small additional cost per hour, our clients get an American attorney working for them.