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 alien.
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 American 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 structured, goal-oriented 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 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 clients of Indian legal process outsourcing companies. Compared to onshore outsourcing in the US and Europe, Indian LPO services 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. Offer high-quality work to clients.
5. Reliable dealings and confidential behavior of legal professionals go a long way in enhancing 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 match of the Indian time zone with the US and European time zone, which is reflected in the better connectivity of Indian legal professionals with their foreign clients.
8. A large pool of IT graduates is available in India with efficient communication skills in English.
Difficulties for Indian LPOs
1. The growth of Indian LPOs depends solely on the growth of US and European law firms. Its recessionary period may also drastically affect Indian LPOs.
2. Seasonal fluctuations in the amount of legal outsourcing work, according to requirements of foreign clients.
3. Unavailability of Indian legal professionals to follow up and manage reports submitted to foreign legal entities.
4. Strong competition from LPO startups in the Philippines, China, Russia, etc.
