BPO (business process outsourcing) and KPO (knowledge process outsourcing) are primarily the two types of outsourcing in India. KPOs deal with business aspects that need specialized domain knowledge. Legal Process Outsourcing or LPO is a subset of the KPO industry. As the name suggests, LPOs deal with the outsourced legal work that firms in the UK, US, Australia want to get done by external vendors. There are various advantages of legal process outsourcing, especially to an established outsourcing hub like India. The Indian outsourcing industry employs around 5 million people. Hence, it is obvious that this industry has every aspect in place: from infrastructure to data security, resource availability to skillset and the necessary domain knowledge base.
LPO Benefits that Law Firms Across the Globe Reap
Outsourcing legal support services involves work that is non-core yet crucial. Some of these tasks revolve around research work for preparing legal documents, filling up forms that are needed for legal proceedings like tax forms, drafting contracts, reviewing contracts, preparing material for litigation support, etc. Though these tasks may sound important, for legal firms such responsibilities are repetitive and usual. For legal firms keeping their legally proficient resources engaged in such work means under utilization of skilled resources. Moreover, they are kept away from hard-core legal work like court representations, etc. Hence outsourcing is one of the ways to ensure seamless back-office work.
One of the most tangible LPO benefits is cost saving. Lawyers and paralegal consultants in the UK, US, Singapore or Australia usually charge a lot for legal work. Their fee is inclusive of the same kind of legal work that is outsourced to LPOs in India. When companies get a part of the work done in India at a relatively low price, the cost of the core work in their own countries also becomes negotiable for them. Hence, cost is a major benefit that LPOs offer to law firms.
In India, skilled resources are available for LPO work. Graduates of law or students pursuing law work in these LPOs. Since they are already conversant in law, training them for the UK or a US process becomes easier. So as far as LPOs are concerned, India provides quality output at a much faster pace. This also saves law firms investment of time and money in training resources at their end.
Background legal work involves a lot of research, documentation, reference checks, etc. This kind of work also involves dealing with data at times. So this can get tiresome. It becomes a lengthy process at times as well. Hence, with the outsourcing of legal work to India, these tasks are taken care of before time. In turn, law firms can lessen their turnaround time drastically.
A prominent advantage that outsourcing lends a legal firm or any business for that matter is access to 24X7 support. For instance, in India resources in LPOs work in shifts that cover the working hours in the US, UK or any other global location. Hence, law firms can be assured of reaping LPO benefits with 24X7 support when they outsource work to Indian LPOs.
Being an outsourcing hub, in India, this domain has evolved into an industry today. Hence, the BPO and the KPO sectors therefore keep pace with technology and its latest versions as needed. The Indian outsourcing domain keeps a strict tab on the latest technological advancements. This is in terms of both hardware and software. Hence outsourcing to Indian LPO gives law firms access to the latest technology without any investment. Legal support services in India are, therefore, technologically upgraded.
Ease of business in terms of utilizing LPOs is always an option for the firms. For instance, if the volume of work lessens in a season or they have an influx of work in another season, the firms can likewise adjust the contract with Indian LPOs. Since the LPOs usually charge on overheads, the cost of work can be managed within a stipulated budget depending on what the requirements are.
Every industry has its pros and cons. The LPO sector is not immune to it with fear factors like breach of data playing into the minds of skeptics. However, the advantages of legal process outsourcing to India outweighs the disadvantages by far too many points. Hence, LPO is a thriving business in India that is benefiting numerous law firms across the globe.