The State of Sourcing

Having done a report earlier on e-discovery and document review, which is by far the most outsourced service in the legal services outsourcing domain, our next stop was most definitely going to be outsourcing of contract management – the next big thing in outsourcing of legal services. As we started speaking with the people who deal with contracts, some of the variations and facts that came out were mind boggling. Here are some examples –

• Contracts may need up to 5-10 drafts by conservative estimates
• Contracts may need up to a year to finalize
• Contract values range from USD 10 – 1,000 million
• Hundreds of types of contracts
• Legal team sizes ranging from 6 – 1000+
• More than 40 countries across which contracts are managed by a single firm

Continue reading ‘Contract outsourcing – outsource to manage better’ »

- WNS was one of the early BPO entrants in the LPO industry.
- Infosys entered the LPO industry about two years back and currently has a team of 500+ employees in their LPO division.
- Wipro BPO made its presence in the industry around the same time as Infosys and has more than 100 employees in its LPO division.

In addition to these companies, several others such as OfficeTiger (one the early entrants), EXL, Caliber Point have entered the LPO industry. More recently, Accentia Technologies Limited, a BPO provider announced its decision to jump into the LPO industry. The company is scouting for acquisitions to enter the LPO industry.

Continue reading ‘BPOs in the LPO industry?’ »

This week, Integreon bagged a 10-year contract worth £582 million from CMS Cameron McKenna. This is a huge gain for the LPO industry. Not only has the industry started seeing larger contracts but also longer term contracts.

Law firms and corporations have mostly restricted their outsourcing contracts to smaller and short-term contracts/assignments. However, lately the legal offshore market is witnessing a gradual change in terms of the size and tenure of contracts.

Established service providers such as Integreon, CPA Global, Pangea3, and UnitedLex have reported longer-term contracts in the last six to eight months. British Telecom shifted work from its captive legal services center (located in India) to UnitedLex. Microsoft signed a contract with Integreon for legal support services. Integreon will provide contract review and offshore document review services to the software giant from its India and Fargo centers. Integreon won a seven year contract worth £50 million from UK based law firm Osborne Clarke. Rio Tinto, a leading international mining group based in the UK awarded a contract to CPA Global.

Continue reading ‘Larger and longer term contracts for the LPO industry?’ »

The year 2006-07 saw large BPOs jumping into the LPO business. Now, its Indian law firms! There has been a visible increase in the interest level of Indian law firms in the LPO industry, over the last few years. Interestingly, over the last two years, about 15+ such LPOs joined the industry. Established players like Bodhi Global, Klexserve are some of the law firm backed service providers serving international law firms and corporations. Relatively newer companies like Lexplosion, Lexedge, Legal Circle, are attaining size and expanding their client base.

LPOs backed by law firms have the advantage of domain expertise from their parent company. These service providers are not only eyeing the international clientele (of their law firm), but also looking to leverage on the domain knowledge of their parent firm to serve the domestic (India) market.

Continue reading ‘Indian law firms eye LPO business’ »

- Osborne Clarke outsources technology, business intelligence, knowledge management, transcription, word processing and secretarial services.
- Clifford Chance outsources legal services like document review along with support services such as IT and document production.
- Pinsent Masons outsources document review services along with secretarial work.
- Law firms like Eversheds, Lovells and Linklaters that currently outsource support functions and are considering outsourcing legal services.

Interestingly, law firms are looking at offloading both legal and support services!

Continue reading ‘Bundled offerings in LPO’ »

Last week, Microsoft signed a contract with Integreon for legal support services. Integreon will provide contract review and offshore document review services to the software giant from its India and Fargo centers.

Under intense pressure from the current economic environment, corporations are evaluating various options to remain profitable. Corporations are adopting several strategies to cope with the changing marketplace. A quick look at how Microsoft is tackling these issues.

Continue reading ‘Microsoft-Integreon deal adds fillip to the LPO momentum’ »

British Telecom (BT) recently announced its decision to shift work from its captive legal services center (located in India) to UnitedLex, a leading LPO. Another gain for the LPO industry! According to a press release issued by UnitedLex, a team of 15 professionals from UnitedLex will provide commercial contracting and antitrust regulation services to BT legal teams in UK, US, India, Singapore and Hong Kong. Founded four years ago, UnitedLex employs 550 lawyers globally, with a majority located in India and the some based out of the US and Israel.

Five years back, BT decided to withdraw their legal services work from outside counsel and start an in-house unit. Currently, they have about 500 people spread across the globe offering legal support services to the BT operations along with a 15-20 man team operating from Gurgaon, India.

Continue reading ‘Captive no more…’ »

How do you handle data privacy issues in India? In the absence of data privacy/protection laws, isn’t this a huge risk associated with offshoring? – These were some of the concerns raised by the attendees at a recent conference organized by the India Chapter of New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) in Mumbai.

Clearly, there were apprehensions on the part of most of the attendees with respect to data privacy. The level of confidence was understandably quite low. The reason it is understandable is because data privacy is a valid concern, given the lack of stringent data security and privacy protection laws in India. The Indian legal system does not offer privacy protection similar to other countries.

Continue reading ‘Data privacy: are we addressing this concern?’ »

Red Bridge Strategy, Inc. is organizing a Global Legal Process Management Boot Camp during the week of May 17th in Mumbai and Delhi. Attendees will broadly learn about global legal process management and specifically about Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO). Presentations, facilities tours, and personalized discussions are expected to educate and inform general counsels, law firm partners and senior attorneys seeking to understand the industry, its benefits, and its challenges.

The Boot Camp will provide attendees with firsthand exposure to the operating environment in India including local talent, business practices, culture, and infrastructure while simultaneously explaining local measures that address security, ethics, confidentiality, and other topics. Industry authorities from Integreon, Pangea3, UnitedLex, Red Bridge Strategy, Inc., ValueNotes, and others will educate attendees.

Continue reading ‘Global Legal Process Management Boot Camp’ »

“Some of the service providers that I have visited have invested a lot of time, effort and money in data security. However, there is still a factor of risk associated with offshoring that will be overcome only with time”, according to a Managing Attorney from a New York based law firm in response to a query on whether buyers have adequate confidence in data security initiatives of offshore service providers.

In spite of the fact that India has enacted legislations such as the Information Technology Act, data may not always be tamper-proof. This is an area of concern for the buyers of outsourcing services as well as for service providers. With significant increase in offshoring, clients as well as service providers are realizing the need for security/privacy around data that is being processed at the offshore location.

Continue reading ‘Is Your Data Safe with the Offshore Service Providers?’ »