11/20/2007

Nikki Finke's Getting Scary: Now They're Outsourcing Lawyers

I think everyone agrees that Nikki Finke's blog at LA Weekly is the place to be for WGA Strike Coverage ... well, other than United Hollywood, or the guys from Letterman over at LateShowWritersOnStrike.Com.

However, who knew how downright skeery Nikki Finke could get? Today, she reveals something that should make lawyers cringe everywhere, not just in Hollywood:

"Because Hollywood is starting to outsource legal research, legal analysis, legal opinion and contract drafting services. Production houses like 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures and HBO have hired an India-headquartered company, SDD Global Solutions, to handle the legal biz of their movie and TV releases, according to The Times Of India in a recent article. The newspaper says the Mysore-based legal process outsourcing firm has 40 attorneys and is owned by Smith Dornan Dehn, a Manhattan-based international media and intellectual property firm funded by Cisco Systems, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Barclay's Capital."

For the full scoop, go read her complete post, "News to Make a Showbiz Lawyer Shudder," as well as the Times of India article she references.

For more on legal outsourcing, check out SDD's website as well as Indian Rahul Jindal's blog, which purportedly keeps track of the new trend of "LPO" (Legal Process Outsourcing) aka "LSO" (Legal Services Outsourcing).