Report: 35,000 law jobs offshore by 2010

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Clients are beginning to demand that law firms hire lawyers in India, who charge considerably less than US lawyers, to perform document review, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Based on the rate at which firms and companies are already sending legal work overseas, Forrester Research estimates that 35,000 US legal jobs will be moved offshore by 2010, and 79,000 will move by 2015.

Some US lawyers are calling on the American Bar Association to take a more protectionist approach and prohibit firms from off-shoring work. Others claim the use of Indian lawyers is "unauthorized practice of law," since decisions about whether documents are privileged require legal judgment.

Indian lawyers bill at $75 to $100 an hour; American associates are often paid $200 for the same work.

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