Legal Outsourcing Pulls Western Talent to India

Many legal outsourcing firms have offices around the world to interact with clients, but keep the majority of their employees in India; some also have a stable of lawyers in the Philippines….basic legal support work can successfully be done offshore very cost effectively with no quality problems

Now, to win new clients and take on more sophisticated work, legal outsourcing firms in India are actively recruiting experienced lawyers from the West.

Employees at legal outsourcing companies in India are not allowed by Indian law to give legal advice to clients in the West, no matter their qualifications. Instead, legal outsourcing companies perform a lot of the functions that a junior lawyer might do in a U.S. law firm

Click on the following for more details:  Legal Outsourcing Pulls Western Talent to India - NYTimes.com

As Finances Tighten, Furloughs Give Way to Pay Cuts

Pay cuts are appearing most frequently among state and local governments, which are under extraordinary budget pressures and have often already tried furloughs,… Warning that they will have to lay off people otherwise, many governors and mayors are pressing public employee unions to accept a reduction in salary of a few percentage points, without getting days off in exchange.

new wage rollbacks feed worries that the economy has weakened and could even be at risk of deflation

Click on  the following to read all of this NY Times story:  As Finances Tighten, Furloughs Give Way to Pay Cuts - NYTimes.com

Oil in Gulf Poses Only Slight Risk, New U.S. Report Say

A government report finds that about 26 percent of the oil released from BP’s runaway well is still in the water or onshore in a form that could, in principle, cause new problems. But most is light sheen at the ocean surface or in a dispersed form below the surface, and federal scientists believe that it is breaking down rapidly in both places.

Click on the following for more details:  Oil in Gulf Poses Only Slight Risk, New U.S. Report Says - NYTimes.com

Update on McHenry County Sportsplex

On August 1, 2010 I posted a  lead to a newspaper story about Lakewood/McHenry County using stimulus bonding power [$18mm] to aid a private developer in building a very large sports complex. See http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2010/08/foreign-funding-and-key-to-165-acre.html  It appears that the blog, First Electric Newspaper, out of Algonquin, Illinois has some very interesting comments regarding the developer.  See http://www.firstelectricnewspaper.com/2010/08/unapproved-center-disgraced-cfo-linked.html. 

That blog questions the credentials of  the developer and points out the involvement of  Terry Gaouette in the project.  Mr. Gaouetter was the Chief  Financial Officer and CEO of the Milwaukee Public Museum. He  authorized the misuse of trust funds in a 2006 scandal at the museum.  See http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29189214.html Felony charges were pressed against Mr. Gaouette  however he received only a small fine [$500] and the lost of his CPA license for two years. 

Rockford gets ‘very good’ rate in $3.4M bond sale

Looks like refinancing would make sense for many municipalities/governmental units. 

city’s bond counsel, Kevin McKenna, of Spear Financial, reported the morning’s Internet bond sale had yielded five bids, the lowest of which was by Nashville, Tenn.-based Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc., with offices in Chicago, for an interest rate of 3.6691 percent. The highest bid received offered a rate of 4.5873 percent.

general obligations bonds….bonds are to defray the cost of the city’s ongoing $75 million water system rehabilitation project.

Moody’s Investors’ Service downgraded the city’s bond rating from Aa2 to Aa3.

Click on the following for more details:  City gets ‘very good’ rate in $3.4M bond sale | The Rock River Times

Election 2010: Illinois Governor - Rasmussen Reports™

 Now only 7% difference in Governor’s Race.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Brady picking up 44% of the vote, while Quinn earns support from 37%. Eleven percent (11%) prefer a different candidate, and nine percent (9%) are undecided

But in June, Brady was ahead 47% to 36%.

Click on the following for more details:  Election 2010: Illinois Governor - Rasmussen Reports™

Boone County committee meeting postponed to Aug. 9 -

RRSTAR.COM STAFF REPORTS

Posted Aug 02, 2010 @ 05:45 PM

BELVIDERE — Boone County Clerk and Recorder Pam McCullough announced this afternoon that tonight’s Administrative and Legislative Committee meeting has been postponed.
The meeting, postponed because of a lack of a quorum, will be held at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 9 at the Boone County Administrative Campus, 1212 Logan Ave.

Boone County committee meeting postponed to Aug. 9 - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star