On the western edge of New Delhi, amid the glittering office developments of the suburb of Gurgaon, the newest part of Clifford Chance’s global empire is open for business. Unlike the firm’s other offices, however, this outpost is not practicing law, still a prohibited activity in India for overseas law firms. Instead, the Clifford Chance office houses a group of Indian IT and accounting specialists, part of the Magic Circle firm’s back-office function. By moving these operations out of higher-cost offices in Europe and the United States, chief executive David Childs predicts, the firm will save �30 million ($60 million) during the next three years.
When it comes to outsourcing, the U.K. legal community still lags far behind many multinational corporations and major U.S. firms — but U.K. firms are beginning to catch on. Clifford Chance’s new Gurgaon facility makes it the first global firm to locate part of its support business in India. Two other Magic Circle firms — Allen & Overy and Linklaters — have already outsourced some back-office functions to Indian contractors, while Eversheds has outsourced a large chunk of its IT function to a U.K.-based specialist.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
