Research shows that the leading Indian overseas legal process outsourcing (LPO) providers have a U.S. attorney on staff to elicit more business from U.S. law firms. Some Indian and other overseas LPO providers are hiring U.S. attorneys as legal advisors enhance their position in the Indian LPO market.

What is a Legal Advisor

A legal advisor is a consultant possessing expert knowledge and skills. He is hired by a company to identify and implement solutions to a variety of problems.

Since a legal consultant is a contractor, the hiring party is not legally liable to others for the acts or omissions of the consultant. In addition, the only authority a consultant possesses is the power of suggestion or persuasion to influence its client.

Why is it Important to Select the Correct Advisor

Selecting the right legal advisor or consultant for your company is not easy. He will be in daily contact with managers and staff as he holds regular meetings and training sessions. In addition, if the legal advisor’s task is to supervise production, he will be in constant contact with staff and management.

Therefore, it is crucial that you are able to maintain a healthy personal relationship with your legal consultant.

How to Select the Best Legal Advisor

When an overseas LPO provider hires a U.S. attorney as a legal advisor, it must select a person with exceptional legal skills and background. Equally important, the legal advisor must possess impeccable personality traits to overcome cultural differences that may deeply impact any business relationship.

Following is a discussion of type of personality traits of a superior legal advisor:

1. Trustworthy: The legal advisor will have access to the client’s confidential information and processes. Obviously, he needs to be trusted.

2. Dedicated: Although the legal consultant is a contractor, he needs to be dedicated to the success of your organization. He has to feel that your success is his success.

3. Social: Your legal consultant must be a warm and friendly people-person that can socialize easily with all different types of people. In order for him to elicit information from staff, he must make them feel comfortable.

4. Honest: The legal advisor needs to be honest with his client – even if the honest transmission of information may hurt the client.

5. Courteous: A legal consultant or advisor deals with all different types of people – people of different cultures, nationalities, religions and personality types. He must be courteous to people’s differences in order to be effective.

6. Patient: Since the role of an advisor or consultant is to identify and solve problems. Some staff will be forthcoming with information while others will be more resolved. A good legal consultant will be patient.

7. Understanding: When listening to staff and management, your legal advisor needs to listen, comprehend and understand the issues. A quick response often means an ineffective one. To develop a good solution, the problems must be understood.

8. Respectful: An effective legal advisor must be respectful of the various management structures and office politics. If he “steps on the toes” of the wrong person, his entire reputation can be undermined.

9. Good Listener: This personality trait does not really need explanation. It is arguably the most important of the ten.

10. Open Minded: In addition to being open-minded to cultural differences, the legal advisor must be open-minded to different methods of problem-solving and management techniques.

Conclusion

A legal advisor does not have any authority over his client; rather he has the power of persuasion. In summary, the best legal advisor is an effective facilitator who is able to spur the implementation of his suggestion. To accomplish this, he must possess the aforementioned personality traits.