Outsourcing has had a high profile in recent years, as work in various fields has been passed abroad, often to the Indian market. Most obvious with call centres, it has also had an impact on the legal profession, with some of the Magic Circle London firms outsourcing tasks like legal research and initial contract drafting to suitably qualified legal staff in India.
This trend is likely to continue, as businesses look at ways of cutting costs without cutting quality.
With environmental law, you can outsource much closer to home. The Environmental Law Chambers is already working with several firms of solicitors in order to provide them with a specialist add-on service for their clients.
The most popular areas of input are
Property/corporate due diligence
Review of site investigation data
Analysis of environmental liability/risk assessment
Threatened environmental prosecutions
Appointment of environmental consultants
Environmental insurance and/or taxes
Sewerage or Water connection issues for developers
Contaminated Land
Water pollution
It can take several different forms, from a simple PAYG ad hoc service; to a dedicated helpline e.g. for all your property transactions; to full scale outsourcing of non-property issues across the environmental law spectrum.
It is entirely bespoke, being tailored to fit the outsourcing firm’s needs in relation to (1) their size and budget, (2) the breadth of the service required, and (3) how often it is used.
