Law firms could be at risk of falling foul of their own professional body’s data protection rules if they outsource their typing work to India and other countries outside Europe, a Midlands legal transcription firm has claimed.
Leamington Spa transcription service Voicepath said despite recently tightening up its rules governing the use of IT, India still has no formal data protection legislation – and general manager Richard Bate said this potentially brought 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’s 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,” he said.
“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 solicitor’s 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 inquiries 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.
