Offshore Outsourcing of Legal Services: Beware the Ethical Risks

Avoiding Malpractice Liability and Ethics Violations

CD/DVD of a 90-minute CLE teleconference with Q&A

Conducted on Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Now available on CD/DVD

Description

Law firms and corporations routinely outsource legal work overseas, although concerns about confidentiality and conflicts of interest abound. Major law firms use Indian lawyers for routine tasks, and Fortune 500 corporations have established in-house law departments in India.

In August 2008, the American Bar Association issued a long-awaited ethics opinion supporting legal outsourcing when adequate ethical safeguards are in place. New York and California local bar associations and the Florida State Bar have also published opinions on offshore outsourcing of legal work.

Listen as our panel of attorneys reviews the new ABA opinion and its implications and offers best practices to avoid malpractice liability and ethics violations while engaged in legal outsourcing.

Outline

  1. Ethical considerations for offshore outsourcing
    1. Ethics opinions
      1. New ABA Opinion 08-451 (August 2008)
      2. New York City bar
      3. San Diego County bar
      4. Los Angeles County bar
      5. Florida state bar
    2. Duty to supervise
    3. Attorney–client privilege
    4. Confidentiality
    5. Conflicts of interest
    6. Unauthorized practice of law
    7. Privacy/data security
  2. Best practices to avoid malpractice liability and ethics violations
    1. Obtain client consent to outsource
    2. Get reliable referral of law firm/lawyer/outsourcing firm
    3. Supervise contract workers
    4. Check for conflicts of interest
    5. Maintain client confidences
    6. Ensure that contract workers have tight security measures to protect confidential data
    7. Disclose markups on pay to foreign attorneys
    8. Incorporate ethical expectations in outsourcing contract

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key questions:

  • How have the ABA and state bar opinions dealt with the confidentiality and privacy concerns arising from offshore outsourcing?
  • Are non-U.S. lawyers handling U.S. cases engaged in the unauthorized practice of law?
  • What protections can firms and corporations put in place to avoid liability for outsourcing?

Faculty

David R. Cohen, Partner
K&L Gates, Pittsburgh

He concentrates in e-discovery issues, technology and intellectual property litigation, insurance coverage, real estate and other complex litigation, and appeals.

Michael P. Downey, Partner
Hinshaw & Culbertson, St. Louis

He helps law firms comply with their legal and ethical obligations and advises attorneys on avoiding malpractice claims and disciplinary complaints. He teaches legal ethics at Washington University.

Ordering

Teleconference on CD

Purchase a CD of the full event proceedings, including Q&A and PDF files of all handouts (available 10 days after the seminar).

For CLE only, this program is pre-approved for self-study credit in AK, AZ, CA, MO, MT, VT, WV.

Self-study CLE credits are also available in CT*, CO, GA, ID, KY, LA, ME, NV, ND, NY*, OR, TX, UT, WA, WI, WY.
Please call us if you will be self-reporting in one of these states. *For CT and NY, Strafford needs to process the CLE — see below to purchase this option

Self-study CPE is not offered on CD purchases.

CD $297.00 plus $9.45 S&H

CLE Processing on CD/DVD (NY and CT Only)

CLE processing for listening to the CD/DVD is available for an additional $65 per person per state in NY and CT.

CLE on CD Processing $65.00

Program Materials

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CLE Credit

Strafford seminars qualify for CLE credits in every state that accredits teleconferences. They offer you a high quality, cost effective, and convenient CLE option, with no lost travel time or expenses.

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Customer Reviews

Content was superb.

Patrick Webb

Webb & Carey

The information was relevant and well presented.  The questions were good, and the speakers responded with clear knowledge.

Sheila Fox Morrison

Davis Wright Tremaine

The back-and-forth between the panelists made the program easy to listen to. The slides were very well done.

Chris Kelly

Mayer Brown

All of the speakers were very informative, and being able to ask questions was very helpful.

Larry V. Smith

Jackson Walker

Speakers demonstrated thorough subject matter knowledge.

Jodi Plagenz

Deere & Co.