10 Advantages of Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO)

Ashish M. Shaji

31 Dec, 2020

Legal outsourcing has grown tremendously in the recent times. Law firms have started to outsource works with a view to minimize costs and to expand their in house capabilities. The mode of delivering legal services has seen a massive change. We will be discussing the advantages of Legal process Outsourcing in this article.

What is Legal Process Outsourcing?

Legal Process Outsourcing also known as LPO is an offshore unit that undertakes legal work assigned by corporations from areas where it is costly to perform like the United States or Europe to areas where similar work is performed but at decreased cost like in India.

LPOs do not work on Indian laws or for Indian clients. Bar council of India prohibits from doing so. The LPO lawyers work on matters related to foreign laws.  The main work involves drafting documents, reviewing documents, legal research^[1], compliance to different laws etc. The entire work is processed online through specialised software.

An Overview on Legal Process Outsourcing in India

The beginning of LPO in India goes back to mid 2004 when a few third party vendors had set the motion for an evolution in the legal outsourcing industry. One of the prime reasons for the beginning and the survival of the LPOs in India can be attributed to the steadily increasing legal costs in countries like US and due to the negative impact of the faltering global economy.

One of the most popular destinations internationally for LPOs is India. The Indian legal system is somewhat similar to that of US, UK, Canada. The Indian litigation and dispute resolution methodologies are well founded in the constitution of India.

Advantages of Legal Process Outsourcing

Outsourcing legal work offers several advantages. Some of the advantages are specified below:

• Cost effective

 One of the biggest benefits of LPOs is that it is cost effective. There is a big difference in the cost of labour between India and US therefore outsourcing legal work can lead to big cost savings. Also the cost of recruiting a qualified attorney or a legal professional and providing training can be expensive.

• Access to emerging technology

LPO offers the in-house lawyers access to latest technology and research tools. Outsourcing companies also provide accessibility to latest technology to protect sensitive documents.

• Access to trained professionals

It helps in accessing the expertise of professionals. In case you face a unfamiliar issue then outsourcing such work to legal services firm that is expert in that area of law will provide you assurance that you would have quality results. It also helps in saving time. It can also lessen the workload on in house professionals and fills the gap in internal competency.

• Reduced turnaround time

With external personnel, one can expand internal bandwidth to reduce turnaround time for pressing legal projects. The combination of off shore and on shore team permits organizations to complete a project in fewer time frames.

• Round the clock services

In countries like India which functions in different time zone, allows law firms to leverage benefits round the clock that mean 24*7. For example, the 12 hour difference between US and India permits 24*7 operations thereby minimize delivery time.

• Increased flexibility

Outsourcing the legal services to an outsourcing firm reduces the workload of the service receiver and allows them to focus more on their core business activities. With in-house and external talent, it allows law firms and organizations to make their capabilities in response to the workload and the demands of clients. By outsourcing legal work, firms quickly scale up for project thereby levelling playing field with the larger firms. With flexible staffing firm overhead is also reduced.

• Exposure and learning opportunities for Lawyers

LPOs provide a great platform for lawyers to learn by having exposure. Many LPOs work for some of the popular law firms of UK and US. Therefore they hire foreign instructors to train employees. It ensures that employees get used to the work culture of foreign countries and also get exposed to some of the best software for the industry.  LPOs also ensure that their employees get reasonable salary for their work.

• Control of the project

When work is outsourced one can also maintain the control of the project. It allows you to set the scope of the project. It also allows you to set the time frame within which it’s likely to get completed. Most importantly it also allows you to set your budget as per your requirements.

• Better focus on core business operations

By delegating the work which include the non-core legal work, to an off shore service provider, one can minimize delivery time and also free up internal resources to focus on building the core functions of the law firm.

• Ongoing Innovation and transformation of business

Legal Process Outsourcing in India allows your law firm to keep with the latest technology and upcoming trends. It will provide your law firm with an added advantage in the legal field. 

Are there any disadvantages of Legal Process Outsourcing?

Well, LPOs provide some of the best services and it also gives you advantages but there are certain disadvantages also. Most of the law firms are very apprehensive about their confidential relationship with their clients therefore they are reluctant to outsource their work. However when it comes to Indian LPOs, they have certain stringent policies in place that safeguards the private information of clients.

Another disadvantage with LPOs that can stop from outsourcing work to LPOs is that there may be some hidden costs that are involved.  Hidden costs may be added to the total costs of outsourcing. You can ask your service provider to provide you with the entire list of costs.

Conclusion

Read our article:What is the Scope of Legal Process Outsourcing in India?