OK to Outsource With Client Consent, Illinois Bar Says (Correct)

Illinois attorneys can outsource nonlegal and legal work as long as they heed state professional conduct rules on competence, conflicts of interest, and client consent, the state bar’s ethics committee said in a recent opinion.

“Stimulated by client demand and internal cost pressures, in recent years many lawyers and law firms have sought to disaggregate, or “outsource,” legal and legal support services traditionally performed within a law firm to outside lawyers and nonlawyers” within and outside the U.S., the committee said.

Its opinion, which was approved in October and published yesterday, came in response to a lawyer’s question as to ...