Though India had earned over $6.7 billion in US-based outsourcing services such as software and call centres till March 2005, the field of legal outsourcing was largely untapped, the study conducted by Forrester said. The study estimated that jobs in the field, which was poised to increase dramatically from about $80 million annually to approximately $4 billion, would grow to 29,000 in 2008, 35,000 by 2010, and 79,000 by 2015.

At present the number of jobs in legal outsourcing in India stood less than 12,000, it said. Outsourcing would reduce costs for US customers as the rates for Indian legal workers were about 10 to 20 per cent of their American counterparts. "Indian outsourcing offers the following economic advantages: A significant wage differential with Indian firms report paying legal researchers around $12,000 per year. There are also savings in perks, overhead, and working conditions," the study said adding time zone differences allowed for overnight and 24x7 operations.

So far, the legal services work consisted of paralegal, secretarial, and litigation support. However, according to the financial consulting firm, Fulcrum Financial Inquiry, Indian firms now offered more valuable services, including contract review and monitoring, document review for due diligence, patent drafting, simple filings and legal research.