Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) Companies in India
In India, legal outsourcing work is increasing tremendously in recent years. Indian LPOs generally outsource legal work for US and European clients. Some Indian LPOs also provide knowledge process outsourcing services with a legal foreigner.
They perform law-based information searches such as litigation support, paralegal work, secretarial support, patent landscape reports, patent mapping, contract review, legal information extraction for patent invalidation, and due diligence. Indian LPOs preferably offer high-quality patent litigation services to European and US law firms.
The positive outcome of a patent litigation case in terms of a huge amount of money could be used as a key financial investment support for that company. LPOs follow a multi-tiered process by engaging in goal-oriented, structured teamwork with specialized attorneys and various subject matter experts.
According to a Valuenotes LPO report (November 2009), India is a dominant foreign destination. Countries like the Philippines and South Africa are also leading the growth of the LPO industries. Every year their income is increasing a lot.
Supporting factors for the growth of the LPO market in India:
1. Easy availability of legal professionals and subject matter experts in India.
2. Profitability is the main benefit for the clients of Indian legal process outsourcing companies. Compared to onshore sourcing in the US and Europe, the services of Indian LPOs are 40-50% cheaper.
3. The Indian legal system is very similar to the American legal system. Because they both originate from the British legal system.
4. Deliver high-quality work to clients.
5. Trustworthy dealings and confidential behavior of legal professionals go a long way to enhance their credibility among clients.
6. Indian LPOs contain better data security systems. Most companies are ISO certified for their effective data security management systems.
7. Better matching of Indian time zone with US and European time zone, which is reflected in better connectivity of Indian legal professionals with their overseas clients.
8. A large pool of IT graduates are available in India with efficient English communication skills.
Difficulties for Indian LPOs
1. The growth of Indian LPOs is solely dependent on the growth of US and European law firms. Its recessionary period can also drastically affect Indian LPOs.
2. Seasonal fluctuations in the amount of legal outsourcing work, as required by foreign clients.
3. Unavailability of Indian legal professionals to follow up and handle reports filed in foreign legal entities.
4. Strong competition from LPO start-ups in the Philippines, China, Russia, etc.