The company that owns Findlaw has recently purchased an Indian legal outsourcing firm for a price in the neighborhood of $40 million.  What does this mean for lawyers in the U.S? And what does it mean for clients of findlaw?

I do not believe that there will be an immediate impact on U.S. based attorneys or any change in the level of service or Internet marketing provided by Findlaw.  However, there certainly is a possibility of long term effects. Findlaw and its company is essentially competing with the very same clients they are trying to get business through the internet.

Findlaw already serves multiple law firms and attorneys in the same area and has their own clients competing against each other for top spots in the major search engines. Our consulting firm typically will represent law firms exclusively in a certain geographic area if they sign up for internet marketing packages. It does not make any sense to have your clients competing against each other when the number one mission or goal of providing Internet marketing is to drive business to the law firm.

The more dangerous aspect of this purchase is that Thomson is now providing legal services. This directly competes with their interests in serving their attorney and law firm clients. Findlaw will have a vested interest in making sure that Pangea3 (their Indian outsourcing firm) comes up first in all the major search engines.  When they are paying an Indian lawyer the equivalent of $7000 a year for an attorney versus $160,000 for some associates in big cities, this makes perfect business sense.  There have also been rumors that American based offices are next for Pangea3.  That would bring the competition to your doorstep.

See a related article at http://www.law21.ca/2010/11/22/the-law-firm-of-the-future-thomson-reuters/