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Offshoring: Indian exodus

Offshoring, the transfer of jobs to low-cost labour markets such as India, is predicted to continue as a labour arbitrage model until 2008/2009, making new demands on lawyers with the scale and complexity of multijurisdictional projects. Transactional experience is now flowing back into the marketplace, says Freshfield Bruckhaus Deringer, giving previously unavailable insight into the problems and opportunities presented by this thorny business issue. This briefing outlines the relevant issues that have emerged.

On current predictions, offshoring to India will continue as a labour arbitrage model until 2008/2009. If those predictions are accurate, then both in-house and private practice lawyers need to be well prepared to deal with the workflow that will accompany it.

In a few areas, offshoring demands similar skills of lawyers and raises similar issues as onshore outsourcing. Being able to apply best practice in contract design and development to the customer/supplier relationship is the main area of overlap.

In many ways, the similarity ends there. The potential scale and complexity of a multijurisdictional offshoring project, coupled with the limited experience Europeans have had working in India, mean that organisations are likely to face unprecedented challenges and risks.

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Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is a leading international law firm. With 2417 lawyers in 29 offices around the world, the firm provides a comprehensive worldwide service to national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments. For more information please visit www.freshfields.com