Legal process outsourcing or LPO has become a common practice among the law firms of all sizes and even the solo law practitioners. Here are some important things you would like to know about LPO.
Global LPO Market is worth a billion dollar now
The global legal market is worth more than $500bn USD today. More than 50% of this is accounted by the United States alone. The global legal process outsourcing market, on the other hand, is nearly $1 billion market. The LPO market has grown in leaps and bounds over the last few years and will continue to do so in the coming time. India has continued to be the favourite international LPO destination for the United States legal services.
The growth of LPO has been phenomenal but there is still a lot to be explored. It has gained immense acceptance among the law firms in last few years. This market will create many business and job opportunities in the time to come.
LPO Providers now handle specialized legal tasks too
When LPO had just started to set foot, the law firms would usually delegate only the grunt work to the LPO providers. Most outsourcing services handled tasks like records management and patent applications. However, very soon, the LPO providers started acquiring new skills and expanded their capabilities. Law firms began assigning more legal work to them including legal research, document review, litigation support and more. While the majority of the workload with the LPO providers consists of noncritical tasks, some outsourcing services can handle more serious jobs as well.
It is not a new concept
While offshore LPO may seem to be fairly new, legal process outsourcing in itself is not a new concept at all. Attorneys and lawyers have always deputed the legal work to law students, inexperienced lawyers, and even smaller law firms in the same or different jurisdictions. Many law firms collaborate with the law schools to delegate certain tasks to the students. This creates an environment of mutual benefit for both the parties. While the law firms get their job done at a lower cost, the students get the real world exposure. Offshore legal outsourcing, however, is a completely different game altogether. It lets the law firms and lawyers gain access to more organized setups and more experienced and skilled resources.
Training in your jurisdiction
Most of the lawyers with the LPO providers go through a training program conducted by the law firms in their own jurisdiction. This way, the LPO lawyers get more accustomed to the legal functions and processes. This also enables the LPO services to understand the legal environment better and provide the solutions accordingly.
There is more to it than just cost-cutting
There is no denying that cost-cutting is the principle reason for outsourcing the legal processes. However, the law firms enjoy more than just the tangible benefits. For instance, by assigning the noncritical tasks to the outsourcing companies, the lawyers or law firms can save more time for rather more important functions. It also gives them the opportunity to focus on their core competencies.
