Globalisation of Commodification: Legal Process Outsourcing and Indian Lawyers

Journal of Contemporary Asia, pp. 1-27, March 2016

Posted: 10 Aug 2016

See all articles by Ernesto Noronha

Ernesto Noronha

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA)

Premilla D'Cruz

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad

Sarosh Kuruvilla

Cornell University

Date Written: March 7, 2016

Abstract

Legal process outsourcing (LPO) refers to the contracting of legal work from regions where it is costly to perform, such as the US to areas where it can be performed at a significantly decreased cost. LPO has been made possible by the disaggregation of the legal processes into discrete units, each of which can then outsourced to cheaper service providers. Anecdotal evidence suggests a variety of benefits such as financial gains, opportunities to perform “global” work in a corporate atmosphere and acquisition of important skills and training that enhances the prestige of the host country lawyers. In India, which has played a significant role, LPO firms are viewed as important catalysts in the transformation of the country’s highly stratified legal profession based on social identities. This qualitative study, based on 38 interviews, concludes that the corporate culture was an attractive proposition for lawyers from non-elite backgrounds; however, the commodification of offshored work led to a deprofessionalisation of lawyers, reducing them to “glorified clerks.” As a result, LPO firms only provided parallel avenues for career mobility but did not destabilise the local legal market which at its core remains socially networked.

Keywords: Lawyers, India, Outsourcing, LPO

Suggested Citation

Noronha, Ernesto and D'Cruz, Premilla and Kuruvilla, Sarosh, Globalisation of Commodification: Legal Process Outsourcing and Indian Lawyers (March 7, 2016). Journal of Contemporary Asia, pp. 1-27, March 2016, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2819684

Ernesto Noronha (Contact Author)

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) ( email )

Vastrapur
Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380 015
India

Premilla D'Cruz

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad ( email )

Vastrapur
Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380 015
India

Sarosh Kuruvilla

Cornell University ( email )

Ithaca, NY 14853
United States
607-255-6735 (Phone)
607-255-7774 (Fax)

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