From Mysore to Manhattan, the legal way

Russell Smith came to Mysore in search of a Yoga master. He not only found an eminent teacher, but also drafted a new business model for legal process outsourcing

Four years ago, Russell Smith, a legal eagle, popularly dubbed the 'Maharaja of Media' in the US for handling clients ranging from Hollywood producers to television serial makers, came to Mysore in search of an Ashtanga Yoga master. He not only found an eminent teacher, but also discovered that the former royal capital can service US legal practices. His chance discovery has today turned into a resounding success.
     In Smith's own account, it all happened because of Yoga. "Why did I come to Mysore? Because I am a yoga student. I came to the city four years ago to study with Ashtanga yoga master Sri K Pattabhi Jois," explains Smith. "For the first couple of years, I had no idea of setting up any firm here. But I could not help but notice how easy it was for me to maintain my US law practice from here, using e-mail and a cell phone. I was even able to get some new clients, such as Sony Pictures, without ever meeting anyone in person. I realised that except for walking into court (which could be done by my associates), all of the legal work for my law firm's US clients could be done from India."
     Then one Friday, back in the US, he was swamped with matter relating to some litigation. He needed to get some subpoenas drafted and served by Monday. "Because I am not much of a 'boss,' I did not direct one of our junior associates to work on the weekend. Instead, I gingerly asked one of them if he 'wanted' to work on the weekend to get the subpoenas out," recalls Smith.
     And the junior's response: "Honestly, no, I don't - I've got plans." Smith immediately started thinking of alternatives available to him.
     "The first thing that popped in my head was of a friend in Mysore, who was trying to work his way through his university, and who was always asking me for a job. I called him up, e-mailed him the details, and he happily did the work for a dollar an hour, as he requested, which is more than the going rate for Mysore students," points out Smith.
     A few months later, the Manhattan office of Smith's firm was having a problem. The immigration department, which handles visa applications for producers, entertainers, artists, and others, who need to come to the US on business, was finding itself extremely short-staffed. Too many chefs bringing in and managing clients, in relation to the number of cooks needed to process the work. It then occurred to Smith that rather than move to bigger and expensive office space in the city, and hire more staff there, he could promote his secretarial staff to immigration paralegal jobs, while hiring secretarial people and even more immigration paralegals in Mysore. With an extra office in Mysore, he could handle thousands of visas a year, instead of hundreds.

"I figured Mysore would be ideal, because as a university town, it has plenty of talented candidates"

"I figured Mysore would be ideal, because as a university town, it has plenty of talented candidates, while at the same time a much lower cost, and higher quality of living, in contrast to India's big cities. My friends confirmed that if decent jobs were in Mysore, most graduates would prefer to stay in their home town, and live with their families," he explains.
So he went online to find a few things to send to his law colleagues about Mysore. He discovered that his idea was hardly original. "Astute business analysts from India and all over the world already have concluded that Mysore is an ideal location for business - the next Bangalore, but hopefully without the congestion, and the lack of planning that led to it. The traffic in Bangalore is so bad that it can take two hours or more just to go across town. Many people in Bangalore find it faster to drive all the way to Mysore, than to get to their jobs in Bangalore. Anyway, my unoriginal idea about setting up offices in Mysore kept growing, until we eventually launched SDD Global there."
     Russell Smith is the founder of the New York media and intellectual property law firm, Smith Dornan Dehn, which in turn founded SDD Global. "The days are gone when large, traditional law firms in the West can continue their ways and survive. Even corporate clients with large pockets are fed up, firing their old law firms in droves, because what they see as a lack of responsiveness, inefficiency, or lack of concentration on keeping costs in line. SDD Global Solutions is providing an alternative," he says emphatically.
     Now, SDD Global Solutions is offering a wide range of services. Essentially the Indian attorneys in the Mysore office are doing the same work as if they were licensed attorneys in the New York office of the US law firm. Except that they do not actually provide legal advice, and obviously they do not appear in US courts. The work here is high-end, knowledge-based work. It is legal research and analysis, drafting of legal documents, and the like. In other words, 99 per cent of what lawyers do in the United States.
     "In addition, immigration visa specialists figure out lawful ways for our business clients to get the skilled personnel they need in the US from abroad," points out Smith, who is the chairman of SDD Global Solutions Pvt Ltd. "Another thing we are very good at is helping motion picture and television studios figure out how to make film and TV productions lawfully, and how to get the necessary insurance. We do this for 20th Century Fox, HBO, Sony Pictures, Channel 4 Television, and many other media clients."
     The firm, to its credit, has done legal work for some of the most successful Hollywood films. "Nearly all of the legal work for 'Borat,' the most financially successful comedy film of all times, was done from Mysore. Similarly the award-winning film, 'Death of a President', featuring the fictional assassination of US President George Bush, could not have been released, without the rapid, expert, and low-cost legal assistance that SDD Global provided," says Smith. SDD Global Solutions is helping get insurance for Al Pacino's next film, and doing the legal groundwork for a new reality TV series about rookie cops. "There is business coming in to SDD Global where we will be doing work on a major new motion picture from Universal Pictures," remarks Smith. "Another large Hollywood studio has asked us to handle thousands of US immigration visas for its actors and directors." Other SDD global clients include Calvin Klein, Travelers Insurance, and major US publishers Elsevier and John Wiley & Sons.
     Most recently, the attorneys at SDD Global have been doing legal research to help defend a highly-acclaimed HBO television series, now facing a court case in Los Angeles. The company's employees also help prepare legal road maps to help film and television producers avoid trouble and obtain needed insurance. With the influx of clients, SDD Global last month moved to its own its own 330-employee building in Mysore and is looking to hire over 200 recruits within the next 12 months.

     The firm employs both Indians as well as expatriates. "We always have between one and three American lawyers in Mysore, and that will increase, as we are now looking to hire three more," says Smith. "But all of the rest of our employees, which is the vast majority, are Indians. The work culture is definitely Western-oriented, to suit our clients, and it is professional, but at the same time much more relaxed than the US law firms I have experienced. We have enough people so that there is no need for ridiculous hours, such as pulling all-nighters, which are very common for young lawyers in New York. My guess is we might be the only legal services company with a meditation room'; and a "movie of the week," which we all gather to. watch and discuss on Friday afternoons."
     The experience so for in Mysore has been tremendous. "Our dream of helping to change the legal landscape in the West is becoming a reality," explains the American legal eagle. "We have attracted major investors, excellent employees and managers, and most importantly, clients. We already have several Fortune 100 clients, and soon we are moving into the Fortune 10." Asked about his being referred to as 'Maharaja of Media,' Smith quips: "I'm going to work with it. Hopefully some day I can get a promotion, to Prime Minister of Global Legal Services." A bachelor, Smith has made Mysore his home. His interest starts with Yoga. "I don't want to sound too pious, but I love yoga and meditation, and Mysore is as good a place as any for that. I also like quality time with friends, and thanks to Mysore being a major centre for yoga, I've got a steady stream of friends coming in every year from Brazil, France, Italy, New York, Los Angeles."
     Smith used to visit Mysore once a year, but now he visits the US once a year. "Even after all this time, I still find Mysore interesting and exotic, and people in Mysore seem to feel the same way about me. In India, I feel like I have a front-row seat before a world in transition, where the so-called "third world" is becoming the "first world." Actually, the biggest thrill is not sitting in the front row, but getting out onto the playing field. SDD Global has allowed all of us to do that. As for family, I am a bachelor, but I do miss my parents, and my dogs."

"The work culture is Western-oriented, to suit our clients, and it is very professional"

Once in a while he goes night clubbing. "Believe it or not, Mysore's Club Hookah is one of the best dance clubs I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty of them all over the world, especially when I was young," he adds. His take home experience? "Strangely, 1 guess I have to face the fact that Mysore is becoming my home. So that is my "take home'" experience."

'Outsourcing is good for American business'

Russell Smith's take on legal and other outsourcing assignments to India. Excerpts:
What is the potential for legal outsourcing to India?
It is vast. Western companies and individuals now spend $250 billion a year on legal fees. This number is way too high, sometimes even crippling. We figure the vast majority of the work can be done in India, for half the cost, so we are looking at a legal outsourcing industry worth up to $100 billion or more. The financial "experts" usually come up with lower figures, but those figures are based on asking US lawyers from big law firms how much of their work can be outsourced. Those lawyers say 10 per cent but they are not telling the truth.

What is your take on the controversy in the US on outsourcing to India?
It's all demagoguery. Rightly or wrongly, the business of America is business, and outsourcing is good for business. In the United States, there is no major political party that is not beholden to business interests, so even if some lawyers put up a fight, they will not win. In fact, every bar association ruling on the issue so far has upheld the ethics of legal outsourcing. Also, hardly anyone in America, except for lawyers, is opposed to drastically cutting legal fees. As legal work becomes more affordable, the demand for it will increase, so I am not sure there will be any loss of legal jobs in the US at all, although surely the fees will have to come down to earth.

What is the scope for growth in Mysore?
We already are the "go to" firm in India for the media and book publishing worlds, so next we are expanding into doing legal work for IT companies. In the meantime, companies from all kinds of fields, even one of the top three auto companies, are approaching us, so the expansion process is not entirely under our control. But one thing is clear. We are going to keep ramping up our capabilities, with hopefully 200 employees within the next year, and several thousand in the next few years. Honestly, I see no reason why we should not be as big as Infosys, with 50,000 employees or more. What Infosys and TCS are to IT, we are in relation to the world of Western legal services.

What do your clients think of this?
They love it. They see their legal fees cut in half, and the quality and speed of the work product is better than they get from their usual stodgy big US law firms.