Organization Overview
The American Bar Association’s Section of International Law: Outsourcing Taskforce is a provisional commission established to review the ethical implications of international legal outsourcing with the intention of proposing recommendations to the American Bar Association House of Delegates.
As part of the International Section of the ABA, the Taskforce is exclusively focusing on international outsourcing to third parties based primarily outside of the United States. The Taskforce defines legal outsourcing as the “delegation of legal tasks, including but not limited to research, drafting, and document review to third-parties particularly to other countries.”
The Taskforce is currently surveying International Section members on a number of issues pertaining to legal outsourcing to overseas destinations.
Current Status
The Taskforce expects to collaborate with the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 for further exploration of ethical issues surrounding legal outsourcing.
Produced Material
The Taskforce has issued a survey to ABA International Section members to assess the questions lawyers should be addressing regarding outsourcing.
More details on the Taskforce available online at the ABA Section of International Law website.
Prominent Members
The Task Force is Co-chaired by:
Betty Murphy
Betty Murphy is a partner with Baker Hostetler, one of the oldest and largest law firms in the U.S. She represents clients in the U.S. and abroad and is recognized as one of the top labor and employment lawyers in the country. Based in Washington, D.C., she has tried cases or otherwise appeared in federal and state courts in over 29 states and in nine of the U.S. Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court. Active in various bar associations, she chaired the International Committee of the ABA Dispute Resolution Section and is on the Board of the U.S.-Mexico Bar Association. She is also a Co-Chair of the ABA International Outsourcing Task Force. In 2009, she received a “Special Achievement Award” from the Section on Dispute Resolution for her achievements on behalf of the Section over the past 14 years.
Steven Richman
Steven Richman is a partner with Duane Morris and practices in the areas of commercial and international law and litigation, including real estate, corporate/shareholder disputes, contracts, construction litigation, energy law, art law, arbitration, secured transactions, intellectual property, bankruptcy and antitrust. Within the American Bar Association, Mr. Richman has twice received the Outstanding Subcommittee Chair award within the Litigation Section, as well as an award for Outstanding Newsletter Editor for the Trial Practice Committee newsletter. He currently is a vice chair of the International Litigation Committee of the ABA International Law Section, a member of the ABA House of Delegates, and a member of the ABA Human Rights Institute Advisory Council. He also is publications officer of the Sales Committee of the International Bar Association and co-communications officer of the Professional Ethics Committee.
Lisa J. Savitt
Lisa J. Savitt is counsel in Crowell Moring’s Torts Practice and is a member of the International Litigation Team. She has experience representing foreign and domestic companies in matters involving complex legal, regulatory and technical issues in state and federal courts. Much of her work involves issues relating to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, application of various treaties, jurisdictional challenges and the doctrine of forum non conveniens. Ms. Savitt’s work has included coordinating with counsel globally on matters involving litigation in multiple jurisdictions and application of law from both civil and common law jurisdictions.
In the News
To date, the Taskforce has not been referenced in any media publications.
