Lack of data protection could expose outsourcing law firms

06 April 2009

Law firms risk falling foul of their own professional body's data protection rules by outsourcing their typing work to India and other countries outside the European Economic Area.

The warning from Midlands legal transcription service Voicepath follows media investigations into the illegal sale of confidential information from supposedly secure call centres in India; these showed the ease with which such details can be bought.

Despite recently tightening up its rules governing the use of IT, India still has no formal data protection legislation - and Richard Bate, General Manager of Leamington Spa-based Voicepath, says this potentially brings UK-based firms into conflict with their own professional code of conduct.

"The issue for law firms considering outsourcing transcription or other services overseas is whether they are able to comply with Rule 4 of the Solicitors Regulation Authority Code of Conduct. This sets out the requirements for dealing with the protection of clients' confidential information and the duty of disclosure owed to clients," said Mr Bate. 

"There are considerable risks associated with sending confidential and personal data overseas. Cheaper options are almost always riskier and to us, the risk is not worth taking. It does not take a huge a leap of imagination to predict the consequences of being in the public eye and having the details of your divorce made public.

 "Outsourcing much of the administrative burden of a solicitors'' firm is often believed to be synonymous with offshoring but there are many examples of successful outsourcing arrangements within the UK, which are bound by relevant and enforceable legislation. Compliance with the SRA rules should be the minimum standard that lawyers set themselves in such cases - and the fact is they won't do that if no properly enforceable procedures are in place." 

Voicepath employs trained legal secretaries based entirely in the UK. It says that the number of enquiries it has received since the start of the economic slowdown has increased as law firms and other professionals seek to streamline their back office functions to ensure the long-term viability of their businesses.  It also works with other professional sectors.