What Is Legal Outsourcing?

Legal process outsourcing (LPO) refers to a law firm, a company, or a government that separates all or part of its legal service functions and related functions based on information network technology based on its own development needs, and commissions It is completed by computer operation for external professional service agencies and is delivered using modern communication methods, so as to achieve a new legal service model that reduces costs and legal risks, improves scientific decision-making, and enhances its own market competitiveness.

Legal process outsourcing

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Legal process outsourcing (LPO) refers to a law firm, a company, or a government that separates all or part of its legal service functions and related functions based on information network technology based on its own development needs, and commissions It is completed by computer operation for external professional service agencies and is delivered using modern communication methods, so as to achieve a new legal service model that reduces costs and legal risks, improves the scientificity of decision-making, and enhances its own market competitiveness.

Ding Tao believes that as an important subdivision of knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), legal process outsourcing (LPO) refers to law firms, enterprises or governments and other institutions based on their own development needs and based on information network technology. Detach all or part of its legal service functions and related functions, and entrust it to an external professional service organization to complete it through computer operations and use modern communication means to deliver it, so as to reduce costs and legal risks and improve the scientificness of decision , A new legal service model that enhances its own market competitiveness.

Legal process outsourcing belongs to

(1) Document management and development services.

Document management: hosting, transcription and review of various electronic documents related to corporate legal work, including word processing, creative design, legal terminology and transcription, legal coding, XML tags, data digitization, keywords, archiving services, Contract management, as well as research, marking and summarizing services in the process of updating the legal database; according to the characteristics and requirements of legal affairs such as corporate litigation, collect, filter, and review all types of paper, scan and electronic documents And analysis, and reasonable modification and processing services.

Document development: drafting, reviewing and revising various legal documents of the enterprise, including the first draft of the lawsuit, employment contract, confidentiality agreement, concession agreement, supplier agreement, lease contract, supplier agreement and distributor agreement, etc. Document creation; and due diligence support services, including review and revision services of confidential documents, supplier agreements, board resolutions, shareholder resolutions, and other related documents.

(2) Intellectual property services

Legal process services related to corporate intellectual property, including prior technology search, free-use rights research, cross / overlap analysis and evidence utilization analysis, as well as patent proofreading, application drafting, filing and maintenance services.

(3) Legal research services

Case support services, providing corresponding planning, legal research, consulting, investigation and case analysis services for corporate litigation and arbitration cases.

Legal research services, providing preliminary research and comparative analysis of specific areas of law, case investigation and analysis, information collection, and legal consulting services for major corporate strategies and decisions.

As an important branch of KPO, legal process outsourcing is different from the traditional legal services provided by general law firms.It not only can provide litigation and non-litigation services to clients, but also provide more detailed and professional research. And consulting services; at the same time, as a focus on outsourcing services in the legal field, legal process outsourcing also has unique features not found in general BPO and KPO businesses.

(1) Compared with traditional legal services, the services and delivery process of legal process outsourcing rely on IT technology and platforms. The transaction of service products will not be affected by spatial distance, and transactions will be conducted through IT network communication means to achieve contractor and access. Win-win cooperation between contractors.

(2) LPO has highly complex process services, which have very high requirements for the professional knowledge and practical experience of personnel. Among them, document management, trademark, patent filing and maintenance services are similar to general BPO services, and only require certain legal knowledge in a specific judicial scope; while other services such as legal research, document development, and so on require a large amount of professional knowledge And a deep understanding of the law. Some of these services are very standard in nature. Each word and punctuation is very important, and the culture and trends in a specific jurisdiction also play an important role.

(3) Along with complex service processes and a large amount of knowledge investment, the value of legal process outsourcing to provide services to customers is higher. At the same time, compared with ITO and BPO, the profitability of LPO companies is relatively higher. By outsourcing part or all of the work of the legal affairs department to a professional LPO company, the company can not only improve business efficiency and transparency, ensure business quality and security, but also significantly reduce legal affairs expenses and save business operating costs.

Legal process outsourcing, as a new legal service form, originated in European and American legal service agencies. At present, LPO is still in its initial growth stage. Global offshore legal process outsourcing business only accounts for 3% of the total potential workload of offshore outsourcing. The data shows that the LPO is replicating the success track of KPO, expanding the global market, and entering a high-speed development stage.

Currently, more than 85% of global LPO contractors are located in India, and India has become the preferred destination for global legal process outsourcing (LPO). The country is also very optimistic about the future development potential of legal process outsourcing and actively develops, and intends to occupy a large area of the global legal process outsourcing market. Despite the impact of the economic downturn, India's legal outsourcing business has not only shrunk but has grown rapidly and has a bright future. According to statistics from Indian consulting firm Valuenotes, the number of legal outsourcing companies in India has soared from 40 in 2005 to more than 140 at the end of 2009. India's 2010 legal services offshore outsourcing revenue was US $ 640 million, which is expected to grow at a 40% annual growth rate, and its total value will increase to US $ 4 billion by 2015. In addition to India, emerging service outsourcing countries such as South Africa and the Philippines have also supported legal process outsourcing as a strategic industry category. Although only a small percentage of LPO contractors are now in South Africa, South Africa and the Philippines will continue to build their positions as important offshore target countries.

For China, where the Asian outsourcing market is developing rapidly, legal process outsourcing is an emerging legal service model. In recent years, it has only been widely adopted by lawyers' intermediaries and agencies in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, but the development in the Mainland has lagged significantly. However, as Asia's largest country and an important global economy, China's international trade volume has grown rapidly since its accession to the WTO. The international market has continued to expand and international cooperation has become increasingly close. However, related survey results show that many companies fall on the "reef" of legal risks. How to systematically prevent legal risks and protect the interests of enterprises has become the core issue of general concern of the majority of enterprises, thereby further driving the rapid expansion of China's legal process outsourcing market. At the same time, with the gradual integration of China's legal system with global standards and the continuous optimization of the overall environment, it has also played a huge role in promoting the development of the legal process outsourcing industry. Therefore, Ding Tao believes that with the continuous improvement of China's legal system, the government's introduction of corresponding policies to support it, the continuous expansion of the domestic demand market, and abundant human resources, China will certainly become the first choice for global legal process outsourcing in the future.