Should you sue your offshore outsourcing provider?

Dispute resolution is always an important consideration when outsourcing IT. If that fails, however, you can always sue if your provider has breached the contract.

"Yes, you can litigate," says Edward Hansen, partner with law firm Baker & McKenzie. "But you probably shouldn't."

Outsourcing lawsuits are notoriously difficult to prosecute, can create such a distraction that it puts the organization at operational risk, and rarely benefits either party in the long term. Offshore outsourcing litigation is even more complicated.

"Sometimes, however, litigation is necessary to resolve outsourcing disputes when all other reasonable or contractually obligated means of solving the problems in the business relationship have been exhausted," says Shawn C. Helms, attorney in the technology transactions and outsourcing practice at Jones Day.

How do you know if it's time to take your offshore outsourcing provider to court? Ask these six questions first.

1. What is the nature of the dispute? "There is a huge difference between discussing litigation in the context of a vendor who is underperforming versus one who has been negligent or violated a trust," says Hansen. "For example, breaching the privacy provisions of an agreement is very different from failing to deliver on transformational savings."

A well-drafted contract will contain remedies for a privacy violation. Underperformance can be murkier. There may be something about the underlying economics of the deal that encourage bad performance, says Hansen, or you may have chosen the wrong partner. In either case, litigation is unlikely to solve your problems.

2. Do you have informal dispute resolution processes at your disposal? "A good contract will provide many alternatives to a suit," says Brad Peterson, partner in the business and technology sourcing practice of Mayer Brown. Look for dispute resolution provisions within your deal's project management or governance mechanisms.

In addition, most contracts will layout "mandatory, mandatory, detailed, multilayered and gradually escalating dispute resolution processes," says Shawn C. Helms, an associate with law firm Jones Day, starting with informal dispute resolution procedures all the way up through litigation. "Most outsourcing disputes are resolved confidentially through out-of-court settlements so that service providers can protect their business interests and customers can maintain an ongoing relationship with the service provider."

3. Can you withhold payment? Customers may seek to use financial leverage to right a wrong. Some contracts will contain a provision call "Right of Set-Off" or "Right to Withhold Disputed Payments." These allow the customer to deduct from payments otherwise owed to the service provider amounts of money representing damages that the customer claims the service provider caused as a result of failing to perform its obligations under the contract.

"If the service provider disputes the amount of the deduction, it may be required by a forum selection clause in the contract to file a lawsuit in the U.S. to have a court resolve the dispute, or it may be required by an arbitration provision to arbitrate the dispute in the U.S.," explains Robert Kriss, a partner and litigator at Mayer Brown. "In the meantime, the customer holds onto the disputed amount or deposits it in an escrow account, depending upon the terms of the contract."

4. Do you have a binding arbitration clause in your contract? A well-written deal will contain a provision obligating parties to arbitrate any disagreements through a neutral arbitration body such as the American Arbitration Association or the International Chamber of Commerce. That becomes especially important with offshore outsourcing, says Helms, "because foreign courts are often more likely to enforce an arbitration ruling against a local provider than a ruling by a U.S. court."

Many countries have agreed by treaty to enforce arbitrated judgments. Just make sure the arbitrating organization is one whose awards are enforceable in the country where the outsourcer's assets are located.

5. Where is your offshore provider based? "You have to determine first how you would enforce a judgment," says Kriss. "If the offshore outsourcer's assets are located in a country that will not enforce judgments rendered by U.S. courts, then you will have to bring suit in the country where the assets are located. Indian courts, for example, will not directly enforce the U.S. judgments because the U.S. is not a "reciprocating territory" under Indian law. And pursuing litigation in India can be painful. "The Indian court system is infamously slow," says Helms. And bringing a suit against a vendor in its own country may not be worth it anyway. "The outsourcer may have a home court advantage," adds Peterson.

6. Is there money to collect? Should you decide to sue your provider, a court may decide in your favor, but you remain responsible for collecting your judgment. And there may be little money to chase. A court may decide in your favor, but it won't collect the judgment for you. "Offshore outsourcing companies often have few assetsthey may be leasing their facilities and equipment and paying out cash to the owners as soon as it is received. The offshore outsourcing companies with assets may have those assets pledged to first-priority lien holders," says Peterson. "Thus, even if the U.S.-based customer manages to get a judgment against the outsourcing company, there may be little or no cash to collect."

Make sure your vendor is not what the legal community calls "judgment proof" before you look to the courts for restitution.