You can hire a very smart lawyer in India for about 700$ a month compared to the 350$ per hour you need to pay for a similar lawyer in the US. The tasks are myriad that can be done from overseas and these are called "LPO". Tasks could include, patent searches, research into history of judgments on any field whether corporate,marriage or family law. Talking to a really smart lawyer friend over the weekend- I understand that the constraint to complete delivery of legal services is the authority of a lawyer to practice law in a particular state as per the State Bar Association. Just like doctors must pass the State medical exam, lawyers must pass exams in the State to practice law in that State. However, given that LPO is growing rapidly there seems to be an interesting split between the components and tasks in onshore and offshore legal work.