About the Industry
In order for organizations to make well-informed decisions, Fronterion is dedicated to educating our clients about the legal outsourcing industry, market players and available outsourced service solutions.
Legal Services Today
The legal process outsourcing ("LPO") industry is a growing and dynamic market. Fronterion's latest research, conducted in 2009, indicates that more than 170 firms are currently performing offshore legal services.
The industry's best practices and dominant market players are still being established, resulting in a wide spectrum of service delivery models. The growth cycle of this industry results in a tremendous amount of innovation in the types of legal services offered and the method of delivery. We help clients navigate the market to discover and capture the value from industry innovations and sourcing expertise.
Progression
Outsourced legal services have evolved from relatively low-level support services to substantive legal service offerings.
The past 24 months have resulted in a tremendous expansion of industry players, niche providers, service offerings and levels of complexity for legal services that are offshored. Advanced technology solutions and modifications to U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have further fueled the transition of legal services to offshore locations.
Preceded by several local bar association formal opinions regarding the legitimacy of legal outsourcing, a major breakthrough for the legal outsourcing industry came with the American Bar Association (“ABA”) Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility Formal Opinion 08-451: 451 Lawyer's Obligations When Outsourcing Legal and Nonlegal Support Services published August 5, 2008.
The Opinion is highly supportive of legal outsourcing, but also places a considerable amount of responsibility on the contracting legal professionals to ensure the success and security of the engagement. For more information on the ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 08-451, Contact Us.
Trending
A prominent trend occurring in the legal outsourcing market is the convergence of service delivery models. Providers' structure service delivery in two distinct delivery models with differing levels: Practice or Process-oriented.
Additional industry trends observed by Fronterion:
- Integration of bundled services
- Integration of onshore and offshore legal expertise
- Building of vertical expertise within the legal horizontal
For more information on how these trends and others affect your legal outsourcing engagement, Contact Us.