Legal Process Offshoring: Population Level Learning

INTRODUCTION Bill Gates is quoted as saying; "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning" (Said What, 2007). In recent years the rising costs of legal assistance and legal offices at all levels are feeling the pressure to keep fees competitive. One economical alternative is to contract out non-core services. Many businesses in the United States have used offshoring since the mid-1980s to lower costs. Consequently, knowledge on sub-contracting has been acquired. Efficiencies were gained by refocusing on core competencies and making more prudent use of available in-house resources ... competitive advantage being the name of the game. Since then, vendor selection has evolved, contracts have become more complex, and best practices have emerged (Rivard & Aubert, 2008). In some cases, industry-specific standards have become known and norms have developed. The Internet and technology have enabled organizations, small and large, to gain a competitive advantage in the global offshoring marketplace. Offshoring takes many forms. Specific business processes are outsourced to third party service providers (BPO), and knowledge - and information-related work (KPO) is carried out by workers in different countries (offshoring). Niches, or domain specific services, have sprung up within BPOs and KPOs. One such niche is legal process offshoring. Some researchers argue that firms within a specific industry will engage in similar foreign offshoring behavior because they face a common set of business drivers and challenges. Using the legal process Offshoring industry as a case of study, this paper explores whether or not population-level learning has taken place in the legal profession as it pertains to legal process offshoring (LPO). RESEARCH CONTEXT Detailed information on organizations offshoring legal processes was frustrated by a general industry resistance to discuss offshoring relationships. According to Ross (2007), a United Kingdom solicitor and Director at LawScribe, one of the world's leading LPOs, acknowledgement of LPO use by law firms and corporations in the United States (U. S.) and United Kingdom (U. K.) is considered a "dirty little secret." The unwillingness of law firms to go on record and confirm they are offshoring some legal work is also frustrating LPOs from publicizing deals with high-visibility clients. In this study, researcher used secondary literature published in practitioner and academic resources to explore how an emerging framework can be designed in a meaningful way to reflect developing trends in the Legal Process Outsourcing in the context of Population Level Learning. Population-level learning is defined by Miner and Haunschild as "A systematic change in the nature and mix of organizational action routines in a population or organizations, arising from experience" (Rivard & Aubert, 2008). McKendrick (2001) suggests that "firms from the same nation are likely to adopt similar global strategies initially, but that, over time, the industry as a whole converges on the same blueprint for action." According to Miner and Raghavan (1999), population-level learning "represents an emerging framework for organization analysis ... It emphasizes change in the nature and mix of organizational routines in a population of organizations arising from experience." Organizational learning takes place when a firm either experiences an activity for itself or learns by imitating other firms. The result of population-level learning for the organization is closure of the gap between desired and actual outcomes. This has been sparingly studies in case of LPOs because of the emerging nature of it in the global marketplace. Industry Pioneer. Successful offshoring of legal services to offshore entities began in 1995 with Bickel & Brewer, a litigation law firm out of Texas. The company was looking for ways to more efficiently handle the millions of pieces of information that confront attorneys on a case. …