Legal work for local outsourcers

Pinsent Masons has signed an outsourcing deal which will see the top 20 UK firm send litigation work to SA, according to Legal Week.

The major regional player has launched a litigation support service in co-operation with global legal processing outsourcing provider Exigent, with the work to be undertaken by qualified lawyers in Exigent's outsourcing centre in Cape Town.

Pinsents has outsourced document processing to Exigent for a number of years, but will now also see the company provide a data review and e-disclosure capability for its 360-lawyer litigation practice.

Nearly 100 overseas companies from a range of countries, including the UK, the US and France will gather in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, to attend the second China International Service Outsourcing Cooperation Conference (CISOCC), reports China Daily.

Jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Jiangsu provincial government, the CISOCC will run from 23 to 24 June, said Zhao Xiaojiang, vice-mayor of Nanjing, at a Beijing press conference prior to the event.

Zhao said: "The CISOCC event aims to provide a platform for both the Chinese and overseas service outsourcing industries to exchange opinions, compare experiences, discuss global outsourcing trends, and meet face-to-face with potential partners and clients.”

One of Kenya's leading outsourcing firms, Kencall, has opened an office in London as part of a pitch at potential clients including the NHS and the Metropolitan Police, states the Telegraph.co.uk.

In the past decade, Kenya's few outsourcing companies have started to poach business from India - which has 63% of the world's offshore outsourcing - as well as the Philippines and Eastern Europe.

But the likelihood of British callers connecting to a Kenyan customer service operator has been limited by the fact that East Africa is the last populated part of the planet not connected to the rest of the world by Internet cable. Instead, firms have relied on costly satellite links.