What happens when the outsourcers get in-sourced?
Last week the Bar Council of India (BCI) announced it was opposed the entry of foreign lawyers into that fast-growing country. BCI president Jaganath Patnaik was quoted as saying:
“To allow foreign lawyers to practise in India will not be in the interest of lawyers in general…”
Mr. Patnaik noted that under the 1961 Advocates Act, foreign lawyers are not permitted to practise in India and that he saw no reason to change this law.
Union Minister for Law and Justice H R Bhardwaj went further, using Jedi-mind-trick logic:
“Five years from now I may not be there to stop the entry of foreign lawyers. If our lawyers can benefit from practising outside (abroad) why not allow them?”
Justice Bhardwaj then made an observation that echoes from London to Los Angeles, from Melbourne to Miami:
Praising Indian lawyers and the legal system as one of the best in the world, the minister had complained that the Bar was lagging behind in preparing its members for the change and asked lawyers to change their mindset.
India will likely find that in a world traversed by an information and communication superhighway, it’s very difficult to maintain a one-way street.
Fellow law.com network member Joy London recently took a closer look at the market to outsource legal services in India. Joy and Ron Friedmann also recently updated their useful listing of outsourced legal services.