BANGALORE: As legal help becomes exorbitantly expensive in the United States, an increasing number of middle-class Americans are reaching out over the internet to lawyers in India for advice and assistance.A growing community of Indian lawyers is finding a business opportunity in helping Americans prepare legal documents. Compared with the $150-300 ( 9,150-18,450) per hour that US lawyers typically charge, enterprising Indian counterparts with online shops are offering their services for as little as $7-20 ( 400-1,200) an hour."This is proving to be lucrative as requests from US clients are increasing," says advocate Mitul Desai who runs a six-member, Ahmedabad-based outfit called Mitul Desai & Associates. Desai and his team of lawyers draft legal petitions, conduct legal research and dig out precedents for cases, ranging from child custody claims and divorce petitions to property disputes.Firms like Vivek N Mapara & Associates charge about $75 for a simple non-disclosure agreement while an American lawyer would charge $200 for the same, says Vivek Mapara, who said his business has doubled over the past two years. "More than 65% of our business comes from such small projects-mainly individual requests from foreign clients as well as small firms," said Mapara. "Each of these small legal-related research projects is in the $200-500 range," explained Mapara.Mapara's team of lawyers have done trademark and copyright infringement cases as well as helped individuals meet the legal requirement while opening websites. The three-partner firm based in Gujarat with branches in Ahmedabad and Jamnagar has also drafted paperwork for clients who have filed for trade infringement cases and want to present themselves in US courts.Similarly, Chennai-based vakilsearch.com offers legal services for as low as $5/hour."We usually charge for the entire work which works out to be 1,500-2,000 for a five-hour work (about $5/hour)," says Rishikesh Datar, cofounder of Chennai-based vakilsearch.com, which has a staff of 37. "We have done legal research work for US citizens and are open to taking up more such work as long as the local laws of the county they belong to, allow us to do so," says Datar.The Indian arms of some of the US-based law firms are also seeing demands from individuals in the US who seek legal help, but cannot afford the rates charged by the US-lawyers."The client contacted me on email regarding research for drafting a divorce petition. The client wanted to present this by himself (without a lawyer's help) in court," said Vidya Devaiah, managing director of the Indian unit of New York-based law firm, SmithDehn. Her firm charges about $50/hour for such work, whereas in US that could cost up to $300 hour, she said.Cassandra Burke Robertson, professor of law at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio said there is an increasing number of litigants representing themselves in US courts. She cited the example of Maricopa County in Arizona state where litigants representing themselves have "virtually quadrupled" over the past 10 years."In a small but growing segment of cases, litigants have hired online attorneys from India and elsewhere to draft litigation documents and to guide them through the legal process," Robertson said. "In many areas, a client cannot find an attorney willing to accept less than $150 an hour-a rate that is simply unaffordable for most middle-class individuals," she wrote in her research paper to be published soon.However, many Indian lawyers try to shun publicity as they are not certain whether their services are legal or not under the US legal system. "While Indian attorneys cannot represent US citizens in US courts or offer legal advice on a case, nothing stops them from preparing case details, doing research and digging up case studies, especially for those US citizens who wish to represent themselves in court," explained Tariq Akbar CEO of Legalease, a Michigan-based legal process outsourcing firm which not offer such services to individuals. "The trend is gathering steam, but it has not yet attracted the regulatory scrutiny."