A Post About Ethics Rules, Offshoring and Mark-Ups on Contract Attorney Fees

From Carolyn Elefant of Legal Blog Watch:

“Do state ethics codes deter offshoring of legal services to India, therefore enabling U.S. firms to charge higher prices for services? And should firms be limited in the amount that they can mark up outside lawyer fees? Those are some of the questions that came to my mind after reading this fairly detailed article, Jones Day, Kirkland Send Work to India to Cust costs  (Update 2) (Bloomberg, 8/21/07), which describes how large firms and corporate clients are using outsourcing (hat tip to Legal Pad).

“The Bloomberg article is an interesting read because it provides some interesting data on how the costs of offshoring work to India compare to law firm costs. Consider the case of Socrates Media, described in the opening paragraphs of the story, which hired QuisLex, an India-based research company that performed the requested work — customization of a residential lease for all 50 U.S. states — for $45,000. That’s roughly one-tenth of the $400,000 estimate that had been quoted by Socrates Media’s outside counsel. Bruce Masterson, CEO of Socrates, found that the work was “good quality” and has been using QuisLex ever since.”

For the full Legal Blog Watch article click here.