I talked about this issue with a Partner at a major New York firm on Friday. It was quite interesting. He talked about two major changes his firm was working on in order to compete moving forward.

1. They are vastly increasing the firm's practice areas, seeking to be a full-service firm. They are looking to decrease their total number of clients, but increase the amount of work they do for each client.

2. They are literally licking their chops in anticipation of opening up an office or two in India. This firm has a huge presence in Asia and the partner spoke about how, in Asia, they are able to bill out at the same rates they do in the United States and pay their attorneys similar salaries. He spoke of India as a totally different place where they couldn't bill out at a similar rate, but didn't have to pay their attorneys nearly as much. He likened the offshoring of the firm's "grunt work" to the offshoring of Dell's tech support.

Finally, I think it will be the large firms that are spearheading this development. It takes a lot of capital and connections to set up shop internationally. Those firms with experience in the international arena will be much better positioned to move into India than will the small regional firms. While the smaller firms may farm work out through an intermediary, they will be much less likely to employ full-time staff across the globe than the Jones Days of the world.

-- AdamCarlis - 28 Jan 2008