The Trend Toward Legal Onshoring -- What It Tells Us about the Future of Law

The trend toward outsourcing of legal work to India may be giving way to "onshoring."  What is the attraction of moving legal jobs back to the US?  The wage gap between India and the US is closing, but more importantly, innovation and continuous improvement are significantly aided by proximity. 

I heard this perspective from a friend of mine who was part of the management team of a successful LPO that was sold (at a substantial profit) to a much larger legal conglomerate.  Indeed, he contemplated getting back into the business, but this time running an onshoring operation. 

This identical perspective is on display in a recent Minneapolis StarTribune story on Black Hills IP, a 2.0 legal process outsourcer that provides various types of managed services for all things related to intellectual property.   According to its website, Black Hills IP is a "US-based IP paralegal service that is faster, more accurate and more cost-effective than in house departments and off-shore providers."  The company appears to be growing, as it did a PR-blitz to commemorate its 100th client.  The company was originally started in Rapids City, South Dakota but has since expanded to Minneapolis.

What make this story especially interesting is that many of the folks who started Black Hills IP were sophisticated Minneapolis corporate lawyers who created a company in the early 2000s called Intellevate, a 1.0 LPO that was sending legal work to India.  In 2006, Intellevate became part of CPA Global, a much larger LPO.  In other words, the folks at Black Hills IP are industry players with much better information than the rest of us who are making bets with their own money. 

Unlike traditional law firms, these types of legal vendors are growing rapidly.  Their secret sauce appears to be combining high-quality processes with capable, motivated paraprofessional talent. 

The challenge for law schools and many practicing lawyers is getting our heads around the fact that, from a pure market perspective, bright legal minds may be less valuable than well-designed and well-executed legal processes and systems.  This state of affairs is just as much an opportunity as it is a threat.

One last interesting note suggesting that companies like Black Hills IP are part of the same ecosystem as traditional law firms and law schools: The CEO of Black Hills IP is Ann McCrackin, a former professor of law at Franklin Pierce (now University of New Hampshire School of Law), where she was director of the Patent Prosecution and Procedure Program.  Prior to that, McCrackin was a shareholder in Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner, a large patent law firm based in Minneapolis that specializes in high technology.

posted by Bill Henderson