Legal Process Outsourcing Services On The Rise: What’s The Reason?
Last updated:
11 Sep, 2023
By Ritu Kaushal |
6 Minutes Read
The global legal services industry was majorly dominated by developed countries like the US over the last couple of decades. However, in the last few years, the Asian market has grown to an extent very quickly and is outpacing the North American and European markets gradually. Some reports even found that legal firms and companies in the North American and European regions are increasingly taking support from legal process outsourcing companies in the Asia-Pacific countries.
The global legal services market is likely to reach $788.94 billion in 2022 from $713.12 billion in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 10.6%. Long-term projections also indicate that the market size is expected to be valued at $1112.75 billion by the end of 2026. Source
The Continuously Growing Demand for Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) Services
In 2020, the LPO market size surpassed $8 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 22% between 2021 and 2027. One of the biggest factors driving this industry’s growth is the increasing requirement and demand for affordable legal assistance. Another contributing factor is the high cost of legal services in North America and Europe; it will play a crucial role in boosting the LPO market demand.
US- and Europe-based Law firms and business organizations are increasingly outsourcing legal processes to companies in countries where these services are a little more affordable.
Onshoring Vs. Offshoring – Which One’s Better?
Many law firms and businesses are reluctant to acquire LPO services from companies settled outside their country, and here are some of the top reasons behind their hesitance.
- Lack of confidentiality
- Data security issues
- Legal system differentiation
- Regulatory compliance-related concerns
- Language barriers
Due to these concerns, they find onshoring (or nearshoring) a better option, allowing them more control over processes and security. But this option would not help reduce costs as there would not be much difference between the costs they pay for the services and what they pay to their in-house staff.
Opposing onshoring, offshoring enables law firms and companies to reduce costs using labor arbitrage. The concerns discussed above rarely turn into actual issues and can be addressed by joining hands with a certified and trusted legal process outsourcing services firm.
This indicates that offshoring is a better option; however, it can only be viable if the LPO partner is selected carefully. As a law firm or business owner, if you choose a reliable LPO firm, you will be able to gain multiple benefits described below.
Top Benefits of Legal Process Outsourcing
1. Staff Acquisition Flexibility
You can obtain legal process outsourcing services from LPO firms when you need them. This simply means you can access qualified and skilled legal experts for a variety of legal back-office functions as per your requirements.
Suppose your law firm has got an increased number of cases to handle, but your in-house resources are already occupied with some ongoing cases. In such situations, outsourcing can work the best for your law business. It allows you to scale up or down services as per your changing needs. This ensures a high level of flexibility in staff acquisition, which is impossible to achieve with full-time in-house resources.
2. Expertise Expansion
If you are planning to expand your law business, outsourcing can be of great help, supporting your expansion plans’ execution speedily. In addition, your attorneys might specialize in specific areas of law; you can take advantage of LPO models for expertise expansion in your law firm.
For example, if a prospective client asks for discovery services in the litigation domain but your staff doesn’t have the relevant experience, you can outsource that client’s requirements. That way, you can ensure not lose any leads while at the same time, you are expanding your firm’s capabilities.
3. Cost Reduction
How much you can save will depend upon the partner you choose; still, you would be able to reduce your operating costs by up to 40% if you outsource to low-pay-scale countries. LPO companies in the Asia-Pacific countries retain and train their staff to provide competitive services across the globe. And considering labor arbitrage, you can get optimum support with your cases at considerably lower prices.
Besides, legal outsourcing firms usually charge on a project basis (flat-fee billing) or hourly basis, enabling you to leverage their customized service offerings at costs you can afford. Some firms also offer flexible payment options, so cost management is a win-win situation.
4. Faster Turnaround Time
Legal proceedings take time, sometimes days while sometimes months. Moreover, as you know, case preparation starts before trial trials in court and needs your staff to spend more time. Now, if you outsource some services such as document review or legal research, you can speed up case preparation.
By utilizing the time-zone differences between North American and Asian regions, you can assign the work while signing off for your day. Then, the next morning when you sign in to start your day, you will have the job done by your outsourcing partner. It means your case-related work is getting done during off-business hours, minimizing the turnaround time and speeding up the entire legal process.
5. Higher Client Satisfaction
Prospects and clients know that legal services are expensive. And now you know that outsourcing can help you save significant costs. In addition, you can use these savings to further improve your law firm’s or legal department’s performance and service delivery model to make clients feel valued.
You may also pass on these cost benefits to your clients by providing high-quality legal services at competitive prices. What else do clients need if they get efficient support without paying a high fee? This will also help your law firm outstand your competitors, and clients would most likely vouch for you.
6. Enhanced Focus on Crucial Areas
As a law firm owner, you might often spend time assisting your attorney staff with multiple things, ending up having less time for crucial business decisions such as budgeting, resource allocation, client communication, servicing, quality assurance, etc.
By outsourcing some tedious and time-consuming tasks, you can save your attorneys’ time and effort and yours too. You and your staff further utilize this saved time and energy for crucial business areas impacting your firm’s bottom line.
Conclusion
Considering these several benefits of legal outsourcing services, it is now clear why LPO is on the rise, and you might want to look for an excellent LPO firm. For this, you must start with determining if you really need support, and if yes, assess your processes and find out which tasks you need to outsource. This is a very important step before you begin your search for LPO firms. Once you’re done, it is time to find some of the best-known and well-established LPO companies; we are one such firm.
At Cogneesol, we have been providing high-quality legal support services to law firms and corporate legal departments across the globe since 2008. We ensure complete client satisfaction by providing round-the-clock support, maintaining confidentiality, and delivering the projects well within deadlines.
We offer a wide range of legal outsourcing services you can benefit from. Learn more about us, our services, and pricing plans; reach out to us today. Call us at +1 646-688-2821 or send an email to [email protected].