Legal Outsourcing: Current Market Trends

Introduction

The stage is now set for a dramatic acceleration in legal outsourcing, due primarily to the increasing pressure for cost reduction and flexibility which is driving a significant shift from tactical project-based outsourcing offshore (Legal Process Outsourcing) towards wider and more strategic long-term sourcing relationships (Legal Service Outsourcing).

Scope

• Provides a detailed analysis of the legal outsourcing market structure, market dynamics and evolving legal outsourcing models for LPO and LSO.
• Based on structured interviews with senior partners across the Top 30 major law firms at the heart of the legal outsourcing market.

Highlights

Unlike many other in-house functions, the legal function has already outsourced the majority of its activity and spend some 80%. But this has so far been on a very conventional professional services model rather than an end-to-end outsourced basis.

The market pressures and new operating models being adopted by enterprise legal functions are having a dramatic influence on the environment for the major law firms who serve them. All major law firms are experiencing an unprecedented level of significant sustained pressure on fee rates and most have suffered a reduction in business volumes.

A number of clear brand leaders are now emerging and converging to offer a full spectrum of LPO services. The majority of new LPO business from both law firms and enterprise legal functions - is now tending to go to these emerging brand leaders and their relative position is therefore likely to strengthen.

Reasons to Purchase

• Includes estimates of the current and ultimate size of the LPO and LSO markets together with predicted market growth rates over the next two years.
• Analyses how enterprise legal functions, major law firms and offshore LPO providers are developing alternative delivery and commercial models.
• Provides detailed advice for enterprises and legal firms on the 'outsourceability' of various legal processes.