Legal process outsourcing is a practice that is common among legal firms. It involves hiring a third party or an outside vendor for assistance with daily legal tasks and activities. The outsourced legal work includes drafting documents, legal research, reviewing documents, compliance to different laws etc. Legal outsourcing services are usually taken up by firms that wish to hire externally and at cheaper cost. For example – countries like US, UK and Canada take assistance from firms based in India because it is cost effective for them and there are similarities in their legal systems. In India, the wave for legal process outsourcing began in 2004. It has remained at an all-time high and even soared due to the rising cost of legal services in US.
In a law firm, there are many tasks and activities that are crucial but time-consuming and for such activities, attorneys must work overtime to ensure preciseness and accuracy. While this can be achieved, there are bigger and more important issues that require a firm’s attention such as expanding clientele and matching business growth related targets. Most legal attorneys struggle to strike a balance and achieve perfection at both ends. A legal outsourcing company comes in as a smart solution to achieve the desired goals.
The trend of LPOs has brought out some key benefits to the fore. Some of these advantages are:
Cost effectiveness – This is evidently the topmost reason for the rise of legal process outsourcing in India asthe cost of labour in India is lower than in the US. Additionally, if firms in the US hire a legal attorney, it is expensive for them to train and recruit resources.
Access to emerging technologies – To ensure smooth exchange of data and information, outsourcing companies provide their vendors with the latest technology and software to work on.
Access to trained professionals – Apart from minimizing the workload of the inhouse team, the outsourced firm or team of attorneys is often well-trained and experienced in dealing with unique and tricky legal matters.
Reduced turnaround time – With additional external personnel, one can expand internal bandwidth in order to reduce turnaround time for pressing legal projects.
Round the clock services – The time difference between India and US allows unrestricted flow of work.
Increased flexibility – The in-house team gets a break from the tasks that are tiresome and time-consuming. They get to direct their energy into expanding the business and handling clients more efficiently.
Exposure for professionals – A legal outsourcing company usually offers training to hired professionals in order to get them accustomed to the firm’s practices and policies. Expert professionals get to further polish their skills as well as work on new and challenging projects, thereby increasing their legal prowess.
Control of project – When you hire a legal outsourcing service, you have control over the work assigned to them and its progress. You can also decide a time–frame and review the work at any stage.
Better focus on core business operations – Being part of a legal outsourcing company serves as a platform for young professionals to get international exposure and learn from working with some of the best firms outside India.
Ongoing innovation and transformation of business – The changing trends in the legal industry are well-known and adapted by an outsourced firm due to their constant interaction and exchange of information with outside firms who employ them. They get access to the latest software and develop an understanding of the ongoing shift in the legal space internationally as well as locally.
Since we have established and discussed at length all the key benefits that you get by opting for legal process outsourcing from India, it brings us to the next crucial point, which is deciding how to hire a legal process outsourcing firm. It is imperative to choose and hire the right third party that can be entrusted with your company’s crucial assignments.
Here are some methods that should be practiced before recruiting for legal process outsourcing services from India.
- Resource and technology – It is always helpful to run a thorough check of the skills and work history of the resources being hired externally. There could be project-specific requirements such as research-based knowledge of a certain law or a specific type of case that requires documentation and reviewing. When we know details of the required skillset and expected deliverables, it is fruitful and highly time as well as cost effective to hire for legal outsourcing services.
- Technical know-how – This is another extremely important factor to consider while hiring. Whether your outsourced team has the right tools and software to perform certain tasks on time and whether they have the necessary training to use those tools becomes a deciding factor in the success of a partnership.
- Trustworthiness – Trust and credibility can be ascertained on the basis of references as well as the image of the legal outsourcing company. It can also be tested on the basis of their performance and professionalism at work. When confidential information and documents are shared between two parties, it is based on mutual trust and agreement, which cannot and should not be breached.
- Ability to meet stringent deadlines – A legal process outsourcing firm essentially plays the role of taking the extra workload off your hands. It is their ability to deliver demanding and time-consuming tasks on time by investing extra hours, which makes them a desirable option.
- Cost effectiveness – It is a general understanding that by outsourcing legal work, your firm can make considerable savings. The inhouse cost of hiring attorneys is far higher than outsourcing work from firms outside. When you are making the decision to choose a legal process outsourcing firm in India to assist you, it is advisable to compare the costs and difference in services so you know for a fact there are no hidden costs involved.
