Beyond India – Optimizing the Locations of Offshore Operations

As the volume and maturity of offshore outsourcing continues to grow, companies are developing sophisticated location strategies to balance the cost and efficiency of leading offshore locations against their economic, political, and operational risks.  During a recent analysis of global delivery center locations, my firm, Red Bridge Strategy, compared locations based on economic factors (i.e., GDP, prices, wages, and growth rates) and differences in the availability of business, technology, language, and management skills.  We then evaluated each location’s strategic suitability within our client’s optimal portfolio of offshore locations.

Pan-Massachusetts Challenge raised $35 million for 2011

The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge raised $35 million for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute this year.  Thanks to all those who supported my small part in this.  For the full story see www.pmc.org – Matt Sullivan

Pangea3 Using a Hub & Spoke Approach to Global Locations?

Pangea3’s recent opening of a delivery center in Carrollton, TX, near Dallas, highlights the speed with which the legal process outsourcing (LPO) industry is incorporating the general evolution of the BPO industry.  Initially, offshoring was exclusively to low cost countries to take advantage of labor arbitrage, and thereby, lower the overall costs of business processes. Since then, offshorers, both outsourcers and companies with captive centers, have begun implementing portfolios of offshoring locations using the so-called “hub and spoke” system.  “Hubs” of offshore work are generally located in scalable countries, like India and the Philippines, where there large numbers of low cost, skilled workers.  “Spokes” tend to be smaller centers that are used to meet particular skill, geographic, or regulatory needs.  Examples of spokes include the use of medium cost locations like Poland for European language skills or the location of a data center that can meet particular E.U. regulations; and Israel to get medium cost yet highly sophisticated legal skills.  (Sales offices, even when they house a few delivery people are not considered “centers,” and therefore not included in this analysis.)

Global Legal author to Ride Pan-Mass Challenge

It’s time for me to use my blog to plug the Pan Massachusetts Challenge (“PMC”).  On August 6^th and 7^th I will be riding my bicycle on a two-day, 163 mile route from Wellesley to Provincetown as part of the PMC to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  During my four previous rides I’ve raised nearly $23,000, and my goal is to reach a five-year total of $30,000.  That means I need your help to raise more than $7,000 during 2011 to help Dana-Farber provide cancer patients with the best treatment available today while developing tomorrow’s cures.  If you would like to donate or read more about my appeal, you can do so at my PMC site.

Captive LPOs for Companies with Significant Offshore Operations

A recurrent question in the legal process outsourcing LPO industry has been whether or not corporations should build their own offshore subsidiaries (or “captives” in industry parlance) to conduct legal process work.  The captive option is particularly attractive for legal work because of the greater control and confidentiality it can afford, but for most companies, building an offshore subsidiary in India solely to conduct legal work simply isn’t feasible.  However, corporations that already have significant offshore operations providing information technology or Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services may be in a position to benefit from captive offshore legal operations. The key factors to consider are the volume of legal process work, whether it can be organized into a consistent workflow, and instituting the appropriate management for the offshore operation and coordination across company locations.

Matthew Sullivan to Participate in Massachusetts Bar Association Discussion on Law Practice Marketing Using Alternative Fee Agreements

On Wednesday, May 4^th, Matthew Sullivan will participate in a panel entitled, “Getting Paid: How to Effectively Market Your Practice with Conventional & Alternative Fee Agreements.”  During the midday program, to be held at the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Boston headquarters, a panel of practitioners will outline the fundamentals of fee agreements, billing and collection; the integration of alternative fee agreements into a practice, and the ethical issues in fee agreements, billing and collections. 

In addition to Matthew Sullivan from Red Bridge Strategy, the panelists will include Ronald A. Witmer of Witmer, Karp, Warner & Ryan LLP, and Jeffrey D. Woolf of the Office of the Bar Counsel (MA), and will be chaired by Stephen Seckler of Seckler Legal Coaching.  The discussion will focus on the how billing practices can serve as a marketing tool while simultaneously decreasing the chances of client fee disputes.  For more information, or to register, click here.

U.S. Lawyer Secondments to Indian LPOs?

In January, LPO provider Cobra Legal Solutions LLC (“Cobra”) announced a secondment program for U.S.-barred lawyers who would like to work at its Chennai, India facility for between two and six months.  Global Legal sees the secondment program as a winning idea for the individuals who participate, Cobra’s outsourcing clients, and for Cobra itself.  Cobra clients that decide to second one of their attorneys to Chennai will gain even more benefit. 

Fixed Fee Billing Tips in Massachusetts Lawyers Journal

In the Law Practice Management section of the February 2011 issue of Massachusetts Lawyers Journal, I have written How to Get Past Hourly Billing, and Maintain a Profitable Practice (page 21) which outlines some techniques to implement alternative fee agreements.  The article is derived from a workshop that Red Bridge Strategy has developed to help clients understand and implement fixed fee billing.  If your firm is interested in hosting a Fixed Fee Arrangements workshop, please contact me for details.

Matthew Sullivan Availablity During LegalTech New York Jan 31-Feb 2

Global Legal author and Red Bridge Strategy principal Matthew Sullivan will be attending LegalTech at the New York Hilton from Monday, January 31 through Wednesday, February 2, 2011.  If you will be at LegalTech or in New York and would like to discuss Legal Process Management or the LPO industry in person, please contact me at MSullivan@RedBridgeStrategy.com.  I hope to have some interesting updates for this space upon my return.

LPO and the EU Data Privacy Safe Harbor

A recent ComputerWorld article about European Union data privacy safe harbor abuses (hat tip to JFehrman) made me wonder about their potential effect on the LPO industry. To help explain the EU data privacy regime, I spoke with a publicity-shy LPO industry colleague who is a cross-border data management expert. (Though he prefers not to be identified, I still wish to publicly thank him here – you know who you are!)