A projects team has been appointed to scout potential locations for the offshore facility and to consider headcounts, with a report due back before the end of the year. It is understood that the centre will employ a mixture of qualified and non-qualified lawyers covering a wide range of legal work, from high-end matters to back office legal functions. Speaking to Legal Business, Shell legal director Donny Ching said that the projects team would be taking a ‘blue sky thinking’ approach with very few specific constraints or targets, reporting back to the company between September and November. However, a ready supply of high quality local talent will be a key priority in choosing the location for the centre.
Heading offshore
Shell already has a collection of offshore business service centres in locations like Krakow, Glasgow, South Africa, Manila, Bangalore and Malaysia, as well as several legal functions which have been relegated to units in more affordable cities – the company has a dedicated due diligence team in Glasgow and a patent search team in Bangalore. Shell’s decision to shift its legal operations overseas follows similar announcements from law firm heavyweights Norton Rose Fulbright and Dentons which announced plans for new back-office facilities in Manila and Warsaw respectively.
Sources: Legal Business; Legal Week
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