Ep. 48 - The Offshoring Playbook for Law Firms

Labor shortages, retention problems, and rising costs—sound familiar? In this episode, Marc and Diana discuss how offshoring (and nearshoring) can solve staffing problems without compromising quality. You’ll hear firsthand experiences, best practices, vendor recommendations, and how Marc Whitehead & Associates integrates offshore staff into the firm culture. If you’ve been curious about how offshoring could work in a legal setting, this episode is packed with the insight and cautionary wisdom you need to get started.

For detailed show notes, navigate using the timestamps below:

[00:00] Introduction

[1:22] Marc and Diana ease into the episode with a casual catch-up and introduce the topic: offshoring as a scalable solution to labor shortage. 

[04:18] Marc explains how COVID impacted hiring. Diana and Marc share how they turned to offshoring as a solution and the kinds of tasks offshore workers initially helped with.

[07:33] Marc and Diana discuss how offshoring supports future scalability and how to hire strategically. They give insight into early struggles and lessons learned around screening, language requirements, and vetting partners.

[12:47] The conversation shifts to best practices in evaluating companies. Diana stresses the importance of clarity, especially as needs evolve. She outlines the benefits of internal screening processes, video assessments, and understanding international education standards.

[20:16] Offshore workers do get access to your systems, but with oversight. Marc compares the risk to hiring inexperienced domestic staff and talks about monitoring tools like Active Trac and Teramind. 

[26:25] A deeper look into how tools like DialPad and Teramind help monitor productivity. Marc emphasizes that monitoring and performance tracking are critical regardless of location.

[28:05] Diana and Marc dive into specific vendors they’ve worked with. They also emphasize matching vendor capabilities with job needs.

[45:00] Looking to the future, Marc shares thoughts on where outsourcing fits into firm growth and how it intersects with AI. He encourages starting with mundane, time-consuming tasks, and stresses the importance of trust and consistent integration.

[51:50] Onboarding, continuing education, and KPIs must apply equally to domestic and offshore staff. Marc notes the loyalty and long-term perspective of offshore hires.

[55:50] Cost breakdown: Offshore labor is typically half the cost of domestic staff, with added flexibility and scalability. 

Visit the Successful Barrister website: https://www.successfulbarrister.com/

Visit the Marc Whitehead & Associates website: https://disabilitydenials.com/

iFIVE: https://ifiveglobal.com/about/

Black Birch Group: https://blackbirchgroup.com/

OnlineJobs|PH: https://www.onlinejobs.ph/

Get Staffed Up: https://getstaffedup.com/

Email Marc Whitehead: marc@marcwhitehead.com