In the words of Thomas Friedman1, outsourcing is flattening the world as we know it. As the world becomes “flatter,” the playing field levels, forcing businesses to compete both nationally and internationally. Outsourcing is just one of the many ways in which business organizations are attempting to better situate themselves in the global market. Even professions such as medicine which were thought to require face to face interaction between the doctor and the patient can now be practiced remotely with the help of evolving technologies. Technology facilitates the division and distribution of tasks to those able to most efficiently accomplish them, regardless of their location.

The legal profession has also benefitted from the advent of new technologies, enabling attorneys throughout the globe to work together for mutual advantage. However, some American companies are reluctant to have their legal work performed by a company that is not located in the United States, because of possible negative press and correlative public backlash. Nonetheless, many corporations are setting up captive centers, or locating part of their organizations’ legal department to locations such as India where labor cost is often 15- 20% of what their U.S. counterparts charge.6 This is known as legal process outsourcing (“LPO”).

While global law firms, those already engaged in multinational activities, have been engaging in LPO since around 2001, small firms and sole practitioners have largely ignored this trend. Indeed, many domestic firms have only recently considered outsourcing their back office activities, let alone their legal activities. This paper describes emerging trends in the LPO arena, along with the associated legal, regulatory, and professional issues..