What is Legal Research Outsourcing?
Essentially, legal research outsourcing is the process of hiring a company to perform research activities that would otherwise be done by a lawyer. While this has traditionally been an exclusive practice to firms and organizations with large budgets, iResearchOffshore offers an affordable option to clients of all sizes. Typically, legal research projects include secondary research such as: comparative analyses of two or more jurisdictions; in-depth research on the history and evolution of statutes, regulations and treaties; recent legal developments including amendments and the passing of new laws; upcoming litigation, legislation and treaty negotiations; and other relevant legal matters to business and trade .
Legal research outsourcing is a cost-effective solution that has grown to become an integral part of legal practices across the world. While most firms, particularly those with large teams, have always engaged in some form of legal research and analysis, outsourcing has become more mainstream as a result of globalization, the increased frequency of cross-border deals, new technology, and the emergence of global law firms.
Advantages of Legal Research Outsourcing
Investing in legal research outsourcing can be an advantageous move for firms of all sizes. It can enable you to tap into expertise that you sometimes have a hard to locating internally for a variety of reasons, including severe time constraints. It can save you on costs, as your company might be able to find a contractor who can handle research more efficiently and at a lower labor rate than your in-house attorneys. You may also find that you can bring in outside researchers who have past experience on similar projects with a greater level of expertise than your current team.
Cost: When you find an external provider who can conduct legal research more efficiently and at a lower labor rate than in-house research resources, it saves you money, allowing your firm to keep more of its budget for client-related work.
Expertise: An excellent writer and researcher will likely get to the heart of the issues or facts you need to know more quickly.
Flexibility: Outsourcing enables you to quickly adjust the size and scale of the team working on a particular piece of research without affecting your current staff workload or the workload of a temporary hire.
Speed: Completing a crucial brief in a tough high-stakes matter depends on efficient legal research.
Fewer bottlenecks: You should not run into the bottlenecks associated with the typical legal research process when an outside lawyer works on the assignment.
How To Select A Legal Research Outsourcing Partner
When choosing a legal research outsourcing partner, aspects that should be carefully considered include reputation, track record of success, and the extent to which it protects its clients’ information. With regard to the first two of these factors, companies can look to client reviews, industry recognition, and peer references. When it comes to security, companies should be particularly attuned to whether any information shared with the outsourcing company will be done through a secure transfer process. Further, it is always worth inquiring whether the outsourcing company is willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect the confidentiality of information shared with them.
The ideal candidate for legal research outsourcing retains extensive knowledge and experience in the area of research the client is seeking, has the capacity to perform research in a timely manner, can provide a reliable reference in the field, is committed to maintaining information security, and has a good reputation in the industry as a whole.
Legal Research Outsourcing Process
In general, outsourcing legal research is a simple process. After you consult with a service provider about your requirements, the service provider could propose a dedicated researcher who’s appropriate for your law firm, or a researcher who is a part of their team. If your law firm chooses to proceed with an outsourcing arrangement, the researcher will be given access to any relevant electronic databases and will also be instructed as to any other specific information they would need from your law firm to start.
Depending on how big the project is , the outsourced legal researcher can work on it full time or only part time. After reviewing your instructions, the outsourced legal Researcher may reach out to your law firm if there are any questions or concerns, and an appropriate resolution can be worked on. After the outsourced researcher has completed the project you requested, they will deliver the completed work product to you. In the vast majority of outsourcing contracts, the outsourced legal researcher is expected to stand behind the promised delivery schedule. They should also be reasonably accessible to answer any follow-up questions that you may have.
Potential Pushbacks How To Manage Them
Outsourcing legal research can have its share of challenges, particularly for those who are new to it. For one, there can be a tendency to assume that the work will be done quicker than if it was completed in-house. While outsourcing can provide significant time savings, project management rules still apply to get the work done efficiently. Well-organized firms use standard operating procedures and documents to instruct outsourcers exactly how they want the work done.
A second challenge is the quality of the work product, which can be difficult to easily determine if the content is proprietary or not. To improve the quality of the final product, it is important to clearly specify the deliverables at the outset of the project and refer back to the service level agreement at each milestone. It is also important to provide feedback to improve the process. Most outsourcing team members want to do a great job for their clients and will be quick to make changes if they are aware of any issues.
Future Trends In Legal Research Outsourcing
As the demand for legal services continues to grow and evolve, so too does the need for legal research outsourcing. Legal research outsourcing has shown its ability to save law firms time and money, allowing them to focus on core competencies rather than getting bogged down in administrative tasks. In the coming years, legal research outsourcing is expected to continue to become a more integral part of legal practice, with the potential for new developments that could revolutionize the industry.
One of the most exciting possibilities for legal research outsourcing in the future lies in the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. This technology, which has already been successful in a number of fields, holds enormous potential in the legal sector. By automating certain legal research tasks, AI and machine learning have the potential to increase both the efficiency and accuracy of legal research.
Companies like LexisNexis are already offering advanced, AI-powered legal research tools . These platforms use vast amounts of legal data to deliver fast and accurate results that can inform attorneys’ strategies and client counsel. As these technologies become more widely adopted, it is likely that the role of legal research outsourcing will continue to grow.
In addition to AI and machine learning, wearable technology, big data, social media and blockchain could play important roles in the development of legal research outsourcing. Such technologies are still in their infancy, and it may be a while before they can be integrated into legal practices in any real way. However, in the long term the potential exists for these technologies to streamline the legal research process even further, resulting in enhanced efficiency and precision.
Legal research outsourcing is a rapidly growing field with a bright future. As the legal industry continues to grow, there’s little doubt that legal research outsourcing will continue to play an increasingly important role. With the right tools and resources, attorneys can continue to bring the highest level of service to their clients.