Here are some commonly raised queries about outsourcing and off shoring legal services:

Why outsource legal services?


Technological advancement, modernized communication and transport systems have noticeably narrowed the gap between the two points of the globe. The refined and advanced methods of document processing and efficient networking systems have facilitated delegation of legal work to an outside agency at the click of a mouse.
Some of the benefits of outsourcing and off shoring are as follows:

• Increases efficiency: Outsourcing legal documentation and legal research projects by the attorneys allows them to concentrate on their key issues thus enabling them to maintain their profit equation rate i.e. rate, utilization and realization.
• Specialized legal services: Attorneys can obtain high quality and specialized legal services by agencies that have expertise in the field of legal documentation, writing and research.
• Ease time pressures: Outsourcing helps the attorneys focus on tasks that demand personal attention and save time on legal research, writing, documentation which helps in managing their schedules effectively.
• Cost effective: Outsourcing legal research and writing on a project-by-project basis reduces the costs which the attorneys and law firms would incur on legal and paralegal staff. Moreover, due to a considerable wage-disparity, legal support services from lower cost markets brings down the high labor costs without compromising on quality and efficiency.

How can a non-licensed legal entity deal with legal projects?
We, at Mindsprings assist attorneys, law firms and other similar organizations in providing legal support services as back-end execution team. We are not a Law Firm and do not render legal advice. Thus, obtaining a license is not mandatory for providing these services.

What legal projects can be outsourced to Mindsprings?

We could provide the following legal services in various areas like
:

• Legal research and drafting: Our team has the expertise to provide reliable, analytical and result-oriented services through an extensive and exhaustive e-library which has CD ROMs and subscribed electronic databases. We research on almost any legal issue and provide a completed draft in any format for memorandums, legal briefs, affidavits, declarations, depositions, agreements, motions, demurrers, complaints, requests etc. preferred by the client. We conduct web filing, research on laws and legislative history, multijurisdictional surveys and forum selection evaluation etc.
• Discovery: We specialize in dealing with voluminous electronic documents and possess fully developed in-house software for processing electronic documents.
• Litigation Coding: We offer litigation-coding services for litigation support to facilitate the research and drafting. Our services include valid determination of documents, Web Coding, Bibliographic Coding, in-text coding, document unitization and file creation. The standard bibliographic coding service includes type of the document, Title, Estimated Date, Nature, Author, writer. We deliver data and images compatible with the current technical formats like Concordance, Jazz Notes, and Summation etc.
• Document review: Through our document review service we review, structure, code and summarize scanned documents for their relevance and responsiveness. The software is converted to MS Word, TXT, RTF files through optical character recognition (OCR) or intelligent character recognition (ICR). The scanned documents in TIF formats are converted to the desirable formats i.e. PDF/Word/ Excel etc.
• Legal transcription: Our team is actively involved in legal transcription services including court proceeding transcription, wiretap transcription, legal letter transcription, trial transcription, verbatim transcription and general correspondence transcription. We transcribe Memorandums, Letters, Depositions, Hearings, Court Proceedings, Presentations, Seminars and Conferences, Audio/visual sound tracks, Client interviews. We also provide other forms of transcription including medical, conference, audio and commercial transcription. We can undertake transcription in all desirable formats.
• Paralegal support: Our paralegals and legal secretaries work with lawyers and law firms and assist them with organizing diaries, scheduling appointments, preparing files, drafting letters, arranging VOIP communication, investigations, proofreading and editing etc. We assist lawyers, law firms and other organizations in managing their finances and accounts through legal accounting, management of documents and records, data entry, book keeping etc.
• Deposition summaries: We provide concise and accurate deposition summaries prepared by our team of experienced summarizers, lawyers, paralegals and writers for all types of cases ranging from medical malpractice, intellectual property right infringement, insurance disputes, construction defect etc. We carefully reduce the testimony to simple facts and record dates, names, figures and exhibits; eliminate irrelevant information and categorize subject matter into articulate paragraphs.

Apart from the above mentioned legal services, we could undertake allied tasks as per requirement of the client.

How do you address Confidentiality concerns?

Mindsprings has a Non-Disclosure Agreement with each of its clients which is signed and sealed by both the parties before initiating work on any project. We also have the following electronic and physical security features in place to ensure the highest standard of internet security, firewalls and confidentiality to our clients.

Electronic Security Features:

• Stringent policies for inbound network users and security parameters for connecting to the resources of Mindsprings.
• State of the art network using structured cabling and secured network using the Cisco Firewall.
• Data integrity and backup through systems based on Network Area Storage for daily scheduled backups and disaster recovery plans.
• Daily on site back up along with off site backup.
• Original versions of software in various processes and no pirated versions anywhere in any sphere.

Physical Security Features:

• Separate work groups for different services. Each work group is allotted a password to enable it to access the data pertaining to a particular service. No work group has access to the data forwarded to another group.
• Effective office security and surveillance features and our office is segregated into separate work areas with restricted access control. Entry to the work premises is controlled through swipe card access.
• Due verification of authorized users of data stored in the main server.
• Employees have to sign an "Employee Confidentiality Agreement" to address security issues and monthly reminders are sent to all employees regarding the liability imposed on them in case of leakage of data from their end.
• The identity of the client is not disclosed to the support teams at any stage of our project. The name and other personal details are withheld from them and only the Project Administrator is aware of the identity of the client he is working for.
• Physical frisking of all entrants before entry into the work area. Separate area has been demarcated where the employees are required to deposit their belongings.
• No staff member is allowed to carry or have access to any output device on their systems. This is to ensure that nobody is able to procure a copy of the project data and client information.
• No systems have the internet access facility except those systems where it is essentially required for research purposes.

How is quality controlled at Mindsprings?

Our quality commitment to our clients is binding. We have a four-level quality check process in place. Our attorneys' experience and qualifications speak for themselves. On finalization of the proposal the execution of the project shall commence.

• Transmission of data from the client to the main server of Mindsprings and assigning the project to the designated administrator who is responsible for verifying and organizing the information.
• Allocation of the project amongst the various team leaders responsible for the actual processing of data.
• Proof-reading of prepared documents and also for quality assurance.
• Final quality check by the administrator who gives the final approval for the delivery of data to the client.

Do you conduct conflict checks?

Yes. When a research project is submitted, we collect sufficient information to perform a conflict-of-interest check. We strictly avoid any question of conflict of interest by declining to serve a prospective client if we have provided services to his opposing counsel on the same case.

How can the client maintain co-ordination and control over the project?

To address this issue we have a Customer Relationship Program which aims at strengthening the entire outsourcing process right from transition of the task to completion of the project. The main features of this program are:

• Through telephone reviews and single point contact, we make sure that our client never loses control over the entire process.
• All communication, while working on a project, takes place via email, instant messengers, phone and fax to communicate as per need.
• The entire communication process takes place through an administrator, your one-point contact, and all your emails and queries are answered within the same working day.
• Projects are directly supervised and controlled by the administrator. The team leaders further manage the project and ensure the end product. So, at no point of time shall the client experience any problem in managing the outsourcing process and in no way the managerial control shall get weakened.

How do you conduct legal research?

Our legal research team is skilled to provide reliable, analytical and persuasive legal research services. We have an extensive and exhaustive e-library which has CD Roms and subscribed electronic databases like Lexis Nexis, Athens, Westlaw, Lawtel, Butterworth, Bailii etc. We could research on almost any legal issue and provide a completed work product in any format preferred by the client.
The main areas of legal research include the following:

• Reviewing and drafting legal documents;
• Drafting of research memoranda;
• Multi-jurisdictional surveys.

Do delegating research projects diminish the requesting attorney’s responsibility?
Mindsprings only works for other attorneys, law firms and similar organisations – not the general public and in no way whatsoever it gives legal advice or makes court appearances and its work product is constituted solely for the review of the attorneys using its services. Though we would never compromise on the quality levels of its output but still the requesting attorneys must realize that they are ultimately responsible for the work they provide to their clients, and delegation of research projects to Mindsprings does not diminish their ultimate responsibility for the final work product.

How can project requests be sent by the client to Mindsprings?
We appreciate the necessity of user friendly request formats and have the following system in place to ensure smooth transition of data

• When a client decides to avail our services, he is allotted an User Name and a password.
• Using this user name and password, the data pertaining to the project can be uploaded through FTP (File Transfer Protocol) via a secure online server by the client in the form of Word documents, Excel Worksheets, scanned images or any other mutually acceptable format.
• The uploaded data would be received at the main server of Mindsprings from where it would be downloaded and sent to the designated Administrator for processing.

How can dictations be submitted to Mindsprings for transcription?
Dictations can be submitted in the form of Voice Files that can be sent to us via internet. These Voice Files shall be downloaded in our dictation-ready computers and thereafter shall be transcribed.

How is the transcribed data delivered back to the client?
A client can receive transcriptions back in multiple formats. The transcriptions are normally returned in an RTF (Rich Text Format) file. This standard file type can be opened using virtually any word processing program, including Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, Lotus, etc. When the client signs up, he is given a login name and password that allows him to access the transcriptions on our website. He can then view and print the transcriptions online or download them to his computer. From here, he can send the report to anybody via email or fax, auto or manually. The client may also procure a fax copy or a direct printout of the transcriptions.

Are clients charged separately for use of online tools?
No. We charge a flat rate and we never bill you separately for the use of any online tools or other resources.

How can you be contacted in case of queries?