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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ann Corrigan who wrote (25062)	1/18/2004 10:49:48 PM
From: gamesmistress	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793688

John Kerry just mortgaged the house he and his wife co-own for campaign funds. His wife's millions are "reportedly held in trusts that are solely in her name. Under current campaign finance law, that money is unavailable to Senator Kerry for use as campaign funding." pbs.org In 1992 Hillary did come across as "too feminist" for a fair number of people, but what did her in was Bill putting her in charge of "health care reform." That was a job for elected [edit: and administration] officials, not the First Lady. Teresa Heinz Kerry is apparently quite successful in her campaign appearances, regardless of her origins, in part because she can speak other languages, particularly Spanish. I would not write her off because she was not born in the USA.

To: Ann Corrigan who wrote (25062)	1/18/2004 10:58:24 PM
From: kumar	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 793688

I don't believe USA is ready for anything but an american first lady. Please define "American" for me. In the USA, unless one is native american, one is either an immigrant, or the descendant of an immigrant.

To: Ann Corrigan who wrote (25062)	1/19/2004 10:52:42 AM
From: Glenn Petersen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793688

Some legal work is starting to be outsourced overseas. chicagotribune.com Law firms slow to outsource Confidentiality outweighs savings By Ameet Sachdev Tribune staff reporter Published January 19, 2004 Chicago lawyer Ganesh Natarajan has watched as his native India has become the back office to the world's multinational companies, and now he's looking to capitalize on that trend. His company, Mindcrest Inc., farms out legal work to a subsidiary with 15 full-time workers in Mumbai, formerly Bombay. Much of the work the staff handles, such as drafting research memos and surveying the laws of various jurisdictions, are duties that younger lawyers or paralegals may otherwise have performed at much higher costs. The company originally seemed a natural magnet for business from law firms, butNatarajan is finding that most of his 3-year-old company's work still comes from other types of corporations. Although outsourcing has become a cost-cutting mantra in corporate America, it is still in its infancy at law firms. Outsourcing in most law firms means having another company manage the copiers. "A whole lot of things happen late in the legal marketplace just because lawyers are very, very conservative," said Joel Henning, a Chicago-based legal consultant with Hildebrandt International. Ask many law firm managers about contracting out legal work, and they react as if they might be breaking the law. They worry about security and confidentiality. They say clients might feel short-changed when the work is shipped elsewhere. There's also the implicit threat of cuts in jobs or pay. But lawyers may have to start changing their attitudes if cost-conscious corporations have their way. In-house legal departments are sending legal work to other countries where professional salaries are lower. Andrew Corp., an Orland Park-based maker of telecom equipment, has cut back on its use of American outside counsel by shipping some of its patent application work to a law firm in New Zealand. General Electric Co. has lawyers in India who draft contracts and other documents. According to a recent study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley, legal assistants and paralegals working in India on behalf of U.S. companies earn, on average, between $6 and $8 per hour. That's about one-third of what their U.S. counterparts are paid. Some of the country's largest law firms have taken notice. New York-based Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCoy said at an offshore-outsourcing conference last month that it is considering moving some back-office functions to India. The firm said it could not help but notice that its international business clients were doing the same. Mindcrest's Natarajan said he realized the potential of the offshore model about four years ago during one of his frequent trips to India representing clients for McGuireWoods LLP, a large international law firm. He considered other business ventures, such as setting up a call center or marketing Indian software in the United States. He became convinced of the potential of a legal back office after talking to GE. Natarajan quit McGuireWoods in 2001 and convinced another lawyer in the firm, George Hefferan, to join him in the start-up. Much of the work Mindcrest does revolves around complex but repetitive legal administrative work. For example, it processes qualified domestic relations orders, which is a court order that allows a retirement plan to distribute money to someone besides the plan participant, like a former spouse. "It's not high-revenue producing work," Natarajan said. "By outsourcing it, you can free up lawyers to do other work." Despite the potential savings, the offshore model scares many lawyers. "Confidentiality is a huge issue," said Peter Pantaleo, a partner at Piper Rudnick LLP, a national law firm with a large Chicago office. "It would be difficult for lawyers to get used to their work going to India." Pantaleo was the president of Washington firm Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand before it merged with Piper Rudnick in 2002. While there, he was constantly looking for ways to lower costs such areas as accounting, information technology and records management. He ended up creating a company in Fargo, N.D., that performs after-hours secretarial work for law firms. Piper Rudnick is one of its three clients. Still, law firms remain cautious about outsourcing even basic back-office functions. The international law firm Baker & McKenzie outsourced its law library in the mid-1990s, only to bring it back a few years later. The vendor had a difficult time understanding the questions that lawyers raised, said David Hackett, managing partner of the Chicago office. Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune