Thursday, June 29, 2017

Legal Outsourcing & Confidentiality

Confidentiality is very important in legal outsourcing. We maintain high standards in maintaining confidentiality in legal outsourcing. We have a reputation as a trustworthy outsourcing company as we proactively address data privacy and security concerns.



Why is data privacy and security one of the foremost concerns in outsourcing to India?

Data privacy and security are not new concepts in outsourcing. When there is transfer of sensitive and confidential information, concerns about a leakage or abuse do arise. For anti outsourcing parties, data privacy and security is cited as one of the main reasons to curb outsourcing. Some consider the security risks to be the same if the data were handled offshore or onshore, while others are unsure about the data privacy and security laws in countries like India and view it as a serious deterrent to their decision to outsource.

Whether or not the concerns are baseless, companies in the US and UK are under increasing pressure from legislation that insists on them guaranteeing the privacy of their customers' financial and medical data. Indian companies realize that they need to scale up their security in order to cater to these concerns before they actually turn out to be a problem. From individual companies to associations like NASSCOM, proactive measures are being taken to ensure that India's unique value proposition is "trustworthy outsourcing".

How is India dealing with data privacy and security issues?
Most of the data privacy and security fears are unfounded. Other than legislation, measures set up between companies which outsource to India and Indian vendors ensure that there is little left to chance. Confidential data is stored on the servers of the companies that are outsourcing and their Indian vendors have tightly controlled access. 
Many of the fears and insecurities are unwarranted as one has to understand that Indian companies have as much to lose as their clients if an incident were to occur. This is why efforts to counter any mishaps are being taken. The country is not only moving up the value chain by offering more complex services, but is determined to establish its trustworthiness. 

WHY LEGAL PROCESS OUTSOURCING?

Most firms and corporations outsource primarily for cost saving measures and this is considered the biggest advantage for legal process outsourcing. While an attorney in major legal markets such as the US charge at minimum 250 dollars for work, countries that are offering legal process outsourcing charge just a fraction. Some countries, especially in the Indian sub-continent have gained prominence due to the fact that some of their attorneys with higher degrees work at meager salary. This has attracted major corporations to outsource some of the minor and less sensitive work in their legal departments. Another comparable advantage is the turnaround time since most countries that offer legal process outsourcing are either on the other side of the Atlantic and generally with customers from the US.

At face value, it would appear that outsourcing service work to another country is detrimental to the U.S. workforce. This is only at the surface, though. The net effect created is a positive one for the U.S. The creation of jobs in countries such as India leads to the creation of new wealth, and a new class of consumers will have increased purchasing power to buy U.S. goods. Countries like India, to which jobs have been outsourced, make for new markets for the U.S. to export to, and this in turn creates revenue for the U.S..

The outsourcing of service work also lends itself positively to the overall development of a U.S. business. Workers can focus more on specialized areas and precious resources can be freed up to further these. In turn, more specialized and focused businesses have a chance of creating additional jobs for more skilled workers by branching off into areas that require a special skill set. On a more macro level, the overall wealth of a nation like the U.S. can improve if companies are focusing on developing core businesses.

It goes without saying that the LPO trend offers great benefits. India’s legal services are affordable, efficient, and above all, skilled. Outsourcing legal work to India costs up to 80% less than the cost of using the services of American law firms. Because it is far less expensive to hire talent in countries such as India, an outsourcing company is in the enviable position of being able to commit larger teams of talented workers to more specific areas of concentration. An LPO, for instance, can afford the luxury of dedicating an entire team to register trademarks or process immigration visas.

But it isn’t just cost savings that make the LPO an attractive business prospect for U.S. companies and forward-looking law firms. As is the case with the BPO and the KPO, LPO users can avail of a range of benefits, not least saving time on getting important work done. LPO users can gain more operational efficiencies by focusing on core business activities while having access to a breadth of skills, technology and service offerings, at a reduced cost.