Legal Process Outsourcing has emerged as a trending topic in the legal sector. It is a concept not much popular among the non-legal community. When someone hears about LPO, they compare it with the well-known concept of BPO. They immediately think about call centers where youngsters interact on the phone with their existing or prospective customers. Conceptually, LPO and BPO are quite similar, but in terms of execution and qualification, they are entirely different.
Legal services in UK, USA, Singapore, Dubai, and so on, are quite expensive as a lot of money is charged on an hourly basis. LPO service providers are also established in countries like Canada, Philippines, and Israel. In India, these services are provided in a comparatively cheaper rate. As result, many corporates send their legal work to India in order to get them done in a fraction of the cost. In the past few years, the LPO industry has grown to around 60% annually. India is currently the largest LPO hub in the world. Many Indian companies accept work from foreign clients and allot it to law graduates employed by them. They complete the allotted work and send the finished file to the clients abroad. LPOs conduct all the work and exchange of information online. They are eventually paid by their clients once the job is accomplished.
Required Qualifications and Skills for LPO
A person is eligible for LPOs if they are law graduates with a certain skill set. They should possess a law degree from a recognized university. They should have excellent communication skills, and should pay attention to detail.
LPO firms do not work on Indian laws or Indian clients. They work for foreign countries and on matters relating to foreign law. The lawyers of such firms perform various responsibilities like drafting certain documents on the basis of templates, reviewing documents, researching on companies, legal research, data entry, litigation support, compliance to various laws, proofreading documents, and so on. They perform these activities online with the help of specific soft wares. Patent search, trademark and copyright registration, and analysis of intelligence services are some of the other services provided by the LPOs which require high skills.
Advantages of Working for an LPO
There are many advantages that an LPO firm offers to its employees. They follow a certain corporate format which maintains uniformity in the work space. LPOs provide all the facilities including promotions, increments, hierarchy, proper office spaces, safe work environment for women and many other benefits. They also provide comfortable work timing which generally range from 8–10 hours.
LPOs also provide a comfortable salary to the employees. The salary levels vary from company to company. Lawyers working for big LPOs earn around Rs 30,000–45,000, whereas, smaller LPOs provide a salary ranging from Rs. 20,000–25,000. Some companies also provide performance bonus and similar incentives. Moreover, salaries are also revised annually depending on the employees’ performance.
Lawyers get the exposure and learning opportunities in LPOs. Many LPOs work for some of the top-notch law firms of the UK and US. As a result, they hire foreign instructors to train the employees. This provides the employees the exposure to the work culture of foreign countries and also provides access to the best of soft wares available for the industry. There are many LPOs which also offer flexible facilities like work from home if the need arises.
Limitations of Working for an LPO
In spite of its many advantages, there are certain issues weakening the LPO industry in India. The work in LPO firms is tedious at times. Lawyers don’t have the option of working on Indian laws. They sometimes lose touch of Indian laws because of constantly working on foreign laws.
Moreover, foreign clients are sometimes skeptic about sharing confidential information and documents with India-based LPOs. Such important information may be misused sometimes.
LPO: Steadily Progressing in India
Legal Process Outsourcing has been steadily growing in India. The recent global recession has accelerated the evolution of LPO in India. Many overseas legal firms are choosing Indian legal firms as outsourcing service providers to reduce the costs. This has transformed India into a favorable refuge of legal works. It has also provided freshly qualified law graduates to prove their worth and also earn well. The Indian LPO sector expects growth in services like document review, eDiscovery, legal publishing, and so on along with intellectual property and contract services.
