Happy Independence Day from Bangalore

Happy Independence Day 2013, my fungible hired help readers. I figured what better way to commemorate the occasion than with an article on Bank of America sending a function previously done in the U.S. to Bangalore, India to save money?

Employees in BAC's LandSafe appraisal division were probably surprised to learn that their JD Advantage™ services were no longer needed and would henceforth be done by workers using checklists on the other side of the world.

The U.S.-based reviewers, who typically had at least five years of experience as appraisers [and can earn more than $100,000 a year], are required to confirm accuracy by doing independent assessments that conform to industry standards, the people said. The checklists in India cover 17 items such as whether the appraiser remembered to sign the report and include photographs of rooms, according to a copy obtained by Bloomberg.

I haven't done doc review — maybe someone who has can comment — but this sounds familiar. The Indians shouldn't get too comfortable, though. "What we're looking for is if there are patterns in certain areas where it looks like the reviews aren't necessarily needed anymore."

Translated from doublespeak, the too-big-to-fail bank will dispense with quality control altogether, if possible, and come running to Uncle Sam to bail it out again if it gets in over its head. You know, privatize the gain, socialize the loss? This is a workable solution if there are still employed workers to shoulder the loss. Matter of fact, one night a BAC executive will wake up and say to himself, "If companies ship their work to India then no one will be able to afford a mortgage and we'll have to stop lending and … ah, we'll just lend to foreigners ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz."

I suggest you sleep with one eye open, yourself.

Wall Street Journal article on lawyer TTTemp jobs

The WSJ just did an article on the rise of Contract/Temp attorneys (I initially put attorney in quotes and then removed them). It's behind a paywall but accessible if you come in through Google News. Interestingly, the WSJ put contract in quotes. Whatever.

There's nothing new here to anyone who reads scamblogs, particularly Tom the Temp. In fact, the WSJ was itself probably the first mainstream publication to call attention to the scam, with its landmark Hard Case: Job Market Wanes for U.S. Lawyers in September 2007. That article immortalized Scott Bullock of Big Debt, Small Law and should have been sufficient to knock sense into anyone considering law school. Should have been.

The piece features a 37-year-old American U grad and describes his life as a coder. Dickensian working conditions, $50K annual compensation, lengthy unemployment, and assignments that end abruptly. The WSJ quotes NALP in saying that 10% of private practice jobs graduates accepted last year were temporary. Paul Campos, who I commented on here, would beg to differ on the 10%. Further, he notes that NALP itself collects data on but does not publish distinctions between permanent and temporary work.

The change to temporary attorneys is driven by cost-conscious clients of marquee law firms who probably resented paying for green associates in the first place. The Journal is a bit behind the times in not mentioning offshoring, onshoring to U.S. backwaters, or technology that will dispense with law grads altogether, but on the whole it's a respectable effort that accurately portrays a segment of the presTTTigious legal "profession" circa 2011.

Speaking of Bullock, I'm about 99% certain that he is the poster areyouinsane in the TLS thread http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=157855 no doubt inspired by the WSJ article. Writing style and anecdotes are identical; not many people begin their sentences with "You see,". He's apparently moving to Turkey. Naturally, the TLS rocket scientists suspect he's a flame, even as they content themselves in the knowledge that this temporary attorney nastiness only happens to "other" people.