Monday, October 6, 2014

Landmark United States Supreme Court Cases

Landmark United States Supreme Court Cases

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Issue: Does the First Amendment prohibit public school officials from barring students’ from wearing black armbands to symbolize anti-war political protest?

Result: According to the Court, yes. The Supreme Court held that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech…at the schoolhouse gate.” Consequently, the Court found that the students’ speech could only be prohibited if it actually disrupted the educational process. Because there was no evidence of such a disruption, the school was in violation of the First Amendment freedom of speech.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Issue: Does the Constitution prohibit laws that severely restrict or deny a woman’s access to abortion?

Result: Yes. The Court concluded that such laws violate the Constitution’s right to privacy. The Court held that, under the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause, states may only restrict abortions toward the end of a pregnancy, in order to protect the life of the woman or the fetus.


Regents of the University of California v. Bakke


Issue : Can an institution of higher learning use race as a factor when making admissions decisions?

Result : The Court held that universities may use race as part of an admissions process so long as “fixed quotas” are not used. The Court determined that the specific system in place at the University of California Medical School was “unnecessary” to achieve the goal of creating a diverse student body and was merely a “fixed quota” and therefore, was unconstitutional. The decision started a line of cases in which the Court upheld affirmative action programs. In 2003, such academic affirmative action programs were again directly challenged in Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger. In these cases, the Court clarified that admission programs that include race as a factor can pass constitutional muster so long as the policy is narrowly tailored and does not create an automatic preference based on race. The Court asserted that a system that created an automatic race-based preference would in fact violate the Equal Protection Clause.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Debt Collection Outsourcing India

Debt Collection Outsourcing India

India has attracted many technology jobs in recent years from Western nations, particularly the United States. Now, it is on its way to becoming a hub in another offshore outsourcing area – debt collection. According to the industry report, units of General Electric, Citigroup, HSBC Holdings and American Express have used their India-based staff to pursue credit card debt and mortgage payment by calling defaulters. US debt collection agencies are the newest to start outsourcing their work to India and are satisfied with the results produced by the polite but persistent Indian experts. After insurance claims and credit card sales, debt collection is a growing business for outsourcing companies at a time of downturn in the US economy when consumers struggle to pay for their purchases. Debt collection is a vital and growing component of US economy. There is more than $2.5 trillion in outstanding consumer debt. As a result, the third-party collection industry makes more than one billion contacts with consumers each year. Recently this year, more than $39.3 billion in debt was returned to creditors. Indians have the advantage of lower salaries and other expenses, which cut drastically costs of collecting debts. Debt collectors in India cost as little as one-quarter the price of their US and European counterparts and are often better at the job. Many such Indian firms run 24-hour services. Indian debt-collection companies comply with strict regulations on operations in the American and / or European markets.

Legal Outsourcing and its growth in India

Legal Outsourcing and its growth in India

This article analyze the emergence of LPO in India, as well as its future growth. The outsourcing originally denoted the practice of sending work to third party companies in the U.S., it gradually expanded to include sending work abroad, a practice that eventuallyeclipsed domestic outsourcing. Offshore outsourcing is not a new phenomenon.  Companies have been referring work to foreign third parties for many years. In the 1990's, as organizations began to focus more on cost-saving measures, they started to outsource those functions necessary to run a company but not related specifically to the core business.

The service industry now known as “Business Process Outsourcing” (“BPO in a relatively short period of time, global outsourcing has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Since the turn of the 21st century, growth has snowballed, going from approximately $119 billion in 2000 to approximately $234 billion in 2005. By the end of 2008, revenues are projected to rise to around $310 billion. The United States is one of the biggest consumers of outsourcing services. Approximately 59% of the global trade in outsourced work originates in North America. The next closest consumer is the European Union, which consumes approximately 27% of the market. Love it or hateit, offshoring is here to stay, and the trend appears to be for more offshoring, not less.

Legal Process Offshoring (“LPO”) was developed as a KPO service set for the legal industry. LPO can be traced back as far as 1995, when the law firm Bickel and Brewer first opened a satellite office to processadministrative. The most modern incarnation of LPO dates back to 2001, when GE created a captive center in Gurgaon, India to absorb in-house legal work. The usefulness of captive LPO centers was initially limited because it was difficult to get workflow to and from the captive centers in a timely fashion. Over the last couple of years, technological advancements have enabled service providers to make LPO more responsive—and potentially more useful—to law firms in primary markets such as the United States and United Kingdom.

LPO Regulatory Trends in 2011

LPO Regulatory Trends in 2011

As legal outsourcing (LPO) industry hitting double-digit growth rates, regulators & representative bodies can no longer ignore this dynamic new market. In the main LPO markets the United States, United Kingdom & India there is the potential for rule changes which could place outsourcing agreements under increased scrutiny or even have a material impact on the ability of law firms & companies to send legal work to outside providers. The regulation is going to be the single most important issue in LPO this year.    it is not expected that there will be any revolutionary changes however it is intended to regulate the legal outsourcing industry in more effective.

The American Bar Association (ABA) has set up a working group to examine the implications of advancing know-how & globalisation for the legal industry that is the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20.  The group has released proposed changes to the ABA model rules & has invited feedback from industry participants. The changes, which include a provision that the law firm outsourcing legal work ought to make definite it is in the best interest of clients, won’t cause a major shift in the regulatory regime. The ABA is due to submit its recommendations to the House of Delegates in August this year. Independent from the ABA, a Connecticut lawmaker recently proposed a bill aimed at curtailing offshore legal outsourcing. While the bill is not expected to go anywhere, it sets off another round of debate regarding the unauthorized practice of law.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has been slower to answer the burgeoning LPO industry in the United Kingdom, however, it’s indicated that it is likely to over out a thematic review on the subject in 2011. The SRA will study if there need to modify regulatory requirements or increase its supervision of LPO arrangements. The body is already thinking about LPO as part of its consultation in the new Solicitors Handbook. The Law Society, which has delegated regulation to the SRA but which still represents the legal industry, has also hinted that it will address LPO in 2011. The Law Society intend to examine the impact of LPO on, in particular, the development of junior solicitors as more of their work is sent abroad, & the risks for firms in terms of professional indemnity insurance.

India where most outsourced legal work is carried out also has of the most intractable regulatory regimes. Among the recent developments is the Chennai Writ Petition, a legal action brought by local practitioners against 31 international law firms & LPO provider aimed at stopping foreign firms from practicing in India.  It is definite that Indian government is unlikely to permit anything which might damage the growing local LPO market. However, the LPO industry ought to keep an eye on the Ministry of Law & Justice designs to tighten overall regulation of the corporate legal sector. This will probably move slowly but is a fascinating statement of intent which could help to clarify the boundaries between the regulated legal sector & legal technique outsourcers & make definite that the LPO industry does not get embroiled again in the foreign lawyer controversy in India.

Top ten points before Outsourcing legal Services

Top ten points before Outsourcing legal Services

Part I - As various state and city bar associations have blessed offshore legal process outsourcing subject to compliance with many specific ethical considerations. The ethics opinions frame the minimum standards for lawyers to avoid losing their licenses.

Beyond such ethical and disciplinary considerations, the big question is how to make LPO effective and within the ethical framework and suggests some business management issues that require individual attention by corporate counsel and law firms considering significant levels of LPO.

Avoid Unauthorized Practice of the Law

Ethics opinions of bar associations generally hold a lawyer hiring or supervising an LPO provider responsible for facilitation, by action or inaction, of the unauthorized practice of the law.  The Florida’s Bar Association attempted to provide some clarity to this concept by suggesting a rights-based analysis whether an activity constitutes the practice of law.  The bar opinions generally refrain from concluding that any particular LPO constitutes “unauthorized practice,” leaving that issue open for the attorney and the courts to decide in each case.

Avoid Malpractice

There is nothing unethical about lawyer outsourcing legal and nonlegal services.” But to be legal, the lawyer who outsources any legal or nonlegal function must render legal services to the client with the “legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation. This is sometimes referred to as the “duty of competency.  A lawyer engaging others to deliver non-legal or legal services must make “reasonable efforts” to ensure that the third-party service provider, if a lawyer, conforms to the Rules of Professional Conduct and, if not a lawyer, delivers the services in a manner that is compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer.

E - Discovery Outsourcing India LPO India Ethical issues

E-discovery Outsourcing India LPO India Ethical issues

Ethical issues of E Discovery Outsourcing. The recent withdrawal of Boies, Schiller & Flexner of the Adelphia bankruptcy case for alleged disclosure and conflict issues with respect to a document management company stresses the need for the profession of clear guidance in dealing with outside suppliers electronic discovery.

Even the appearance of possible ethical issues related to the provision of e-discovery services, in particular with regard to the sudden emergence of third parties ‘industry’ non-legal providers can become a show in the lawsuit, or worse . Unresolved ethical issues in this area can become traps for the unwary, which could result in extreme penalties, denial of rights, restoration of rights, disciplinary action and damage to professional reputation.

Ethical issues related to non-legal services in litigation are not new. The American Bar Association, through its Model Rules of Professional Conduct and Code of Professional Responsibility predecessor, has long sought to regulate the problems that may arise, if not legal services are provided by the client, outside counsel or a third party. But e-discovery is not a simple photocopy. Given the high risks of cost, complexity and proximity to the center of the litigation process, the so-called e-discovery, at least, of a new attention to the details of best ethical practices.  However, one can argue that the “reasonableness” requires trial attorneys to keep abreast of technological advances applied to electronic detection. In fact, the American Bar Association website states that “competition in the use of a technology may be a requirement to practice law. Requirements for Technological may appear as part of the rules of professional conduct, education continuing legal (CLE) programs and credit insurance premium.

E - Discovery Creates Exciting New Opportunities

E-Discovery Creates Exciting New Opportunities

You know about e-discovery and the changes it has brought to every practice specialty imaginable. Electronic discovery how people and businesses conduct themselves, what they write in an e-mail, say in a voicemail or put in a blog or website has changed the face of the legal field. This also means that the number and type of assignments for paralegals has increased and changed, particularly in the discovery and risk management arenas.  A brand new position, the e-discovery manager, has emerged. This person’s first responsibility is to reduce costs by managing vendor selection. E-discovery managers also enable organizations to proactively prepare for litigation. A screw up in e-discovery, such as removing metadata during document productions, can result in sanctions or a court issued adverse inference. Managers also create a consistent process for e-discovery projects that includes data collection, processing and review.

Bankruptcy Petition filing steps

Bankruptcy Petition filing steps

Take a file folder and put a statement from every creditor that you owe in it. In case you do not receive a every month statement from the creditor, put the following information on a sheet of paper and put it in your file:
  • Name and complete mailing address of who you owe;
  • Your account number (if applicable);
  • The name of who owes the debt (husband, spouse or both);
  • The total amount you owe this creditor;
  • How much your every month payments are;
  • The date you originally went in to debt with this creditor if you do not remember the exact date, an approximate year i.e., 2001, 2002, 2003, etc. will do;
  • If the debt is for a credit card, record the last date you charged on this credit card. In case you charged less than 90 days ago, you need to write down the amount you charged and the reason for the acquisition.)
  • In the same file folder, also put in the following documents:
 Your current pay check stubs :
  • In case you are unemployed, include copies of documents showing any income you receive(d) from unemployment, workers compensation, infant support, SSI, social security, retirement, estate, etc.
  • Mortgage and deed in case you own or are purchasing a home or other actual property (i.e., land, apartment complex, etc.).
  • Copies of your automobile, boat, motorbike, mobile home or other titles to motor vehicles.
  • Copies of your tax returns.
  • Copies of any court proceedings filed against you.

Title Search Property Due Diligence Outsourcing India

Title Search Property Due Diligence Outsourcing India

A title search is the resulting document of ownership or lien research of a real estate. A researcher will retrieve the records on a property, such as transfers, liens, judgments, and other recorded data. All the results will be compiled into a report, called a title search and report can be used to understand the status of the property, such as if there are liens against the property, or ownership status.   The search report will have title search abstract, not just a property deed. A full property title searches  include : Mortgages, Property liens, Tax liens, Contractor liens, Tax certificates, Legal and vesting document.

Many of our clients are investors, looking at properties for purchase. The prospective buyers wish to determine the status of any liens that may be on the property and understand the ownership of a property before they make an offer on it to the seller or broker. Sometimes, knowing the amount of mortgages on a property, or if there are financial problems can help with the negotiations. The title searches may indicate comparable sales data, to see what other properties in the area have sold for. In addition, some clients may require a title search as part of a family event, such as divorce, estate or otherwise. Many homeowners are now checking their own homes title status on a regular basis, to make sure no liens are attaching to the property. A lien search for the property is most important for title search, and it should list all liens recorded against the current owner of the property. This includes both mortgage liens, and all non-voluntary liens such as tax liens, contractor liens, etc.   The title searches take between one to four days (Not including weekends).

U.S. Rules and Regulations Applicable to Outsourcing

U.S. Rules and Regulations Applicable to Outsourcing

Many functions within the relationship of a corporation and outsourcing firm fall directly or indirectly under the governance of U.S. laws. For example, several of the largest U.S. banks outsource their IT systems, data processing, financial research, data storage, or customer transactions to U.S. and foreign-based BPOs. In doing so, some of the rules and guidelines applicable to financial outsourcing include NASD NTM 05-48, The Federal Privacy Rule and the Safe Guards Rule of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and outsourcing rules defined by Federal Financial Examinations Council (FFIEC).

When U.S. public companies outsource accounts receivable, accounts payable, or fixed-asset accounting to a BPO, compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley is still required as compliance is non-delegable. By extension of the outsourcing relationship, both the public company and the BPO work within the governance and compliance of these regulatory requirements.  Also, when U.S. healthcare and insurance companies outsource medical records, claims processing, and patient billing information, patient information is protected under the parameters of the HIPAA Privacy Rule even if the patient information is maintained by an offshore BPO.

Rules of Legal Outsourcing (LPO)

Law firms and corporate legal departments typically employ some form of outsourcing within their functions. Services which are not typically considered the practice of law, i.e. document review, litigation support, eDiscovery, etc., are, technically, outsourcing relationships when they are performed by an outside party. The current rules applicable to legal outsourcing were defined by ABA Formal Opinion 08-451. The guidelines include the allowance of non-lawyers to perform certain types of legal work, provided non-lawyers are not engaged in the unauthorized practice of law and they are supervised by lawyers. When an eDiscovery provider is retained by a firm or in-house counsel, there are no restrictions on who may or may not perform culling, searching, and hosting of privileged documents. When paper documents are converted to electronic files by a litigation support company, confidentiality and security requirements exist for personnel handling the documents and the physical dwelling in which the documents are stored. When a non-lawyer in the U.S. or abroad is utilized to review documents for law firm retained by a client, there are no licensing requirements preventing the individual from doing so provided the non-lawyer, again, is working under the supervision of a lawyer. Overall, the combination of the Rules of Professional Conduct sworn to by counsel, counsel’s oversight of its legal outsourcing providers, and the compliance of ABA Opinion 08-451 by legal outsourcing providers appears to be cohesive and effective. Similar to U.S. privacy and confidentiality rules which extend to BPO practices, uniform standards and guidelines should continue to apply to legal outsourcing whether the work is performed in New York or New Delhi. Industry-wide compliance of confidentiality, security, prevention of conflicts, and avoiding the unauthorized practice of law will further substantiate the role of legal outsourcing and eliminate apprehension in its adoption as a standard practice for corporations and law firms. A Fortune 500 company or AmLaw 200 firm seeking to gain value through process improvements and cost reductions from legal outsourcing should be able to so; provided such work is done under their supervision and within the parameters of ABA Formal Opinion 08-451 or similar guidelines.

E - Discovery Right to all Information restricted

E - Discovery Right to all Information restricted

In a recent decision in Carolina Bedding Direct, LLC v. Downen, United States Magistrate Judge Monte C. Richardson shed light on the limitations placed on discovery by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 and the circumstances under which a requesting party will be denied wholesale access to a responding party’s computer, cell phone, and email account. The decision also reinforces that courts are unlikely to question a responding party’s certification of compliance with discovery requests absent a real showing of improper conduct, even if it is shown that the responding party failed to produce its own email and text messages that were later produced by another party.

Legal process outsourcing India – Recent Trends

Legal process outsourcing India – Recent Trends





Legal process outsourcing refers to the practice of a law firm obtaining legal support services from an outside law firm or legal support service company. t is high end industry that has been growing rapidly in recent years. The term, “LPO,” for “legal process outsourcing” is apparently a media invention derives from word BPO and KPO. When LPO provider is based in another country is called off shoring and when LPO is based in same country, the practice of outsourcing includes different kind of work like appearance in court & face to face negotiations. Many corporations and attorney firms are now looking to outsource some, for their legal support services. As the industry has evolved in size and expertise, their nature of work being outsourced.
An increasing number of companies, large and small are outsourcing legal work to destinations across the globe. It involves delegating legal work to an external or affiliated organization which can carry it out a lower cost. Originally LPO enacted law firms and large corporations outsourcing large document review projects for litigation disclosure or transactional due diligence to an offshore provider. This process allows the firm to address the various legal issues that arise on daily basis while being able to streamline productivity. The process involves a contract, with due consideration between both firms. There are various methods involved in this process like Direct contract, Managed outsourcing, Required outsourcing, Multi-sourcing. Security tended to be a central concern for firms considering LPO .All good LPO providers meet ISO standard. If we see currently growth it is approx. 50 to 60 percent and it is to be expected that growth will increase in coming 4 to 5 yrs.
The basic reason behind this success is based in merger and acquisition from previous 2 to 3 yrs. It offers many advantages like firms outsource primarily to save cash, outside talent ,LPO charge a small fraction of price than major legal market charge, availability of quickly scale up. India is currently the largest LPO destination, like the U.S & U.K. Indian legal service are affordable, efficient and above all skilled. Outsourcing legal work to India costs up to 80% less than the cost of international firms. India possessed a large highly qualified labour pool. LPO is occurring in all sectors of legal industry. The work of lawyers, paralegals and litigation support personnel is increasingly being performed by legal service providers. In this process the issue of client confidentiality assumes utmost importance. Legal process outsourcing grows by leaps and bounds. The LPO industry is rather nascent and has initially encountered many of the same struggles that early BPO outsourcing faced, it is poised to become a major sector of offshore outsourcing in coming years.
From 2010 to 2014 the Indian LPO market growth increases 27.7%. Acc to the sources it is estimated that Indian LPO’s are expected to high growth by USD 1.3 billion market by 2015 and USD 960 million by 2015. Investors have spotted the potential. It has also been witness of increasing technology applications. In India it is expected to raise 18000 professional. Globally this market is increased up to 28% . In coming year it has been seen that LPO is raising large trading enterprises that need to manage a large number of contracts or legal forms.

CONTRACT MANAGEMENT OUTSOURCING INDIA

CONTRACT MANAGEMENT OUTSOURCING INDIA





Contract management is a fundamental components and driving force with all law department. Contract management is the contracts made with customers, vendors, partners or employees. It plays a significant role in smooth function of legal outfits. Contract management has broader scope than document management. It includes negotiating the terms and condition in contracts and ensuring compliance with terms and condition, as well as documenting and agreeing any changes that may arise during its implementation or execution. As businesses grown complex commitments and obligations to customers, suppliers, the use of contract s has grown rapidly.
Contract management assist law department to develop and implement more cost-effective
approaches to contract management for both buy and sell side . Contracting is actually one of the crucial activities in determining the success of any business arrangement.
Contract management includes:
• Contract management
• Contract review and analysis
• Contract abstraction and summarization
• Contract drafting and negotiation
• Integration of proper and electronic document
• Contractual risk analysis
Commercial contract includes employment letters, sales invoice , purchase order. Complex contracts are often necessary for construction projects, goods or services. Contract can be of many types e.g. –sales controls, purchasing contracts, partnership agreements and intellectual property agreements. Contract management is the process of systematically and efficiently managing contract creation, execution and analysis for the purpose of maximizing, financial and operational performance and minimizing risk.
Contract management has four key methods such as visibility and access, managing and tracking contract commitments, and managing. Contract risk in this counsel will be assisting your clients that you work closely with clients to meet mutual expectation. In negotiation drafting, finalization and monitoring a contract.
There are certain areas of contract management-Authority and negotiation, Baseline management, Commitment management, communication management, document management.
It is critical part of today’s business environment, otherwise any negligence can cause business harm and proved expensive to an organization many fraud, and criminal activity etc. are the reasons of failure contract management which can be overcome through contract management training. Contract management training helps you to understand tools and techniques. It is important to have training
because in business environment competition is increasing day by day. This helps organization to get good benefits to both seller and buyer.
Contractor and manager should have great bonding. Give proper attention to audits and should be careful about transparency. They should do regular meeting, on which future of an organization depend. Goals should be always kept in mind. Proper training arrangements for coming youth.
In today’s business environment contract management software allows share contractual document and track different versions of document. Many software developers concentrate too much on terms like signing date ,effective and signatory date to compromise with others vital terms like indemnity, warranty etc. An attempt is being made by contract management software companies to outsource repository and other core competencies to India which will broaden their horizon and limit costs. It also ensures entire data is securely stored in digital formats. They make all contracts easy to store, access and retrieve.
There are two types of two contract management certification which two associations include NCMA (National contract management association) and another is CPCM (Certified professional contracts management). The phases of contract management are initials, bid, development, manage, maintaince.There may a circumstances when contracts needs to be changed later on which is based on mutual agreement b/w both the parties to vary the contract, a unilateral decision to vary the contracts . It is a methodical management of contracts from inception to conclusion.
Effective skill needed
1) Technical skills are required for preparing documents, analyzing and proposals, doing bids so on.
2) Investigation of business and legal background of contract should be checked.
3) After finalizing documentation you should prepare transaction.
4) Skill of conceptualization so that manager can visualize company’s goal.
5) Condition of purposed business relationship satisfied or waived.
Consequences of poor contract management
In 2010/11 department of public enterprises discovered poor contract management in the SEO’S supply chain management audit findings. This led to lack of internal control, wasteful expenditure and irregular procurement practices.
Contract management also associated with risk factor which can be reduced by contract management training. In this there is good scope of career and earning .It is a tool for a growth of an organization. In year 2009 struggle year in which contract management overall firm reveal many organization saw slightly dip while tier2 and tier 3 saw growth of 2.4% and 2.6% respectively.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding



Crowdfunding is the process of funding your projects by a multitude of people contributing a small amount in order to attain a certain monetary goal. Goals may be for donations or for equity in a project. The USA is in the process of making rules to control the crowdfunding.  Supporter of regulation claimed that crowdfunding would open up the flood gates for fraud, called it the “wild west” of fundraising, and compared it to the 1980s days of penny stock “cold-call cowboys.” The process allows for up to 1 million dollars to be raised without a lot of the regulations being involved. Companies under the then-current proposal would have a lot of exemptions available and be able to raise capital from a larger pool of persons which can include a lot lower thresholds for investor criteria whereas the old rules required that the person be an “accredited” investor. These people are often recruited from social networks, where the funds can be acquired from an equity purchase, loan, donation, or pre-ordering. The amounts collected have become quite high, with requests that are over a million dollars for software like Trampoline Systems, which used it to finance the commercialization of their new software.
A well-known crowdfunding website is Kickstarter, a website for funding creative projects. It has raised over $100 million, despite its all-or-nothing model which requires one to reach the proposed monetary goal in order to acquire the money. Crowdrise brings together volunteers to fundraise in an online environment. In a related project, Offbeatr was launched in 2012 to crowdfund pornography.  Citizinvestor is a US crowdfunding platform specifically focused on raising money for public projects and community infrastructure.
iStockPhoto provides a platform for people to upload photos and purchase them for low prices. Clients can purchase photos through credits, giving photographers a small profit. Again, the photo collection is determined by the crowd’s decisions made for very low prices.
In February 2012, a stock picking game called Ticker Picker Pro was launched, using crowdsourcing to create a hedge fund that would buy and sell stocks based on the ideas coming out of the game. It was hoped that these crowdsourced ideas, coming from so many people, could help one pick the best stocks based on this idea that collective ideas are better than individual ones.