Ralph Baxter's cost-saving maneuver to relocate Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe's back-office functions to a "global operations center" in Wheeling, West Virginia, was initially met with skepticism inside the Am Law 100 firm. "There was a lot of persuading of the partners that had to take place," says Baxter, the firm's former chairman. More than a decade later, Orrick estimates that it saves over $10 million a year—due in part to reduced labor and real estate costs—from efficiencies achieved through its Wheeling operations.
In 2002, the Wheeling facility opened with 70 mostly information technology, accounting, and operations jobs. Moving back-office functions to lower cost settings, whether in Brooklyn or Bangalore, wasn't a new idea. But before Orrick, no large U.S.–based law firm had so thoroughly embraced the concept.
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