More Evidence That Times Are A-Changin'

In a previous posting, I mentioned the renewed focus of sourcing executives generally and the Institute for Supply Management in particular on the corporate legal spend. Sourcing executives represent a sometimes-overlooked constituency in discussions about the evolving relationship between inside and outside counsel, as manifested to a large degree in the Association of Corporate Counsel's Value Challenge.

In November's Docket, the journal of the Association of Corporate Counsel, Kenneth Cutshaw, the General Counsel of Cajun Operation Company points to another organization, whose rise is futher evidence of the legal profession's transformation. That organization is the nascent International LPO Association (ILPOA), scheduled to me up and running by the end of the year. LPO is the acronymn for Legal Process Outsourcing -- the much discussed flow of commoditized and repetitive legal work to other nations, including India and -- interestingly -- Ireland, Israel, Canada and other Eastern European countries now listing themselves as homes to LPOs.

Market forces have been slow to reach the legal profession, but as an individual who has studied it carefully for most of the last decade, there is a palpable acceleration, and all of the words about new law firm business models seem to be nearing reality.