Siddharth Singh, a law student of Delhi University, was one happy soul on the first day of the placements season. He had managed to bag a job with one of the big legal process outsourcing (LPO) firms. Earlier, the placement scene was different. Law schools didn’t have law firms lined up and students had to make a beeline for the courtroom.

However, with the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, Indian Law Society Law College, Pune and the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Calcutta, having been set up, and the emerging LPO sector in India, job seekers are beaming. So what is the LPO buzz all about?

Legal process outsourcing has come a long way in India from being restricted to only legal transcription jobs. A recent study by the US-based Forester Research suggests that the current annual value of legal outsourcing is worth $80 million and could rise up to $4 billion — and 79,000 jobs — by 2015. Says Gaurav Singhi, advocate, Calcutta High Court, “LPOs are a growing market and a lucrative option. What’s more, they are coming up in a big way in Calcutta.”

“Freshers prefer to join LPOs because of the good money. Also, going to the courts right after college is not a great idea. It’s better to gain experience before taking a plunge into the world of cut-throat competition with big shot lawyers as your peers,” says Tapan Chowdhury, senior partner, Legal Services India, an LPO in New Delhi.

Kazi Abrar Ullah, a fourth year student of Jogesh Chandra Chowdhury (JCC) Law College, Calcutta, agrees, “We are organising placements for the first time and we are hoping to attract legal firms as well as LPOs.”

This sector is the sector of the future with a potential for growth, unlike business process outsourcing (BPOs), which many fear might eventually get wiped out. Says Rajeev Goswami, director, Intellextra Outsourcing Solutions Pvt. Ltd (a Noida-based LPO firm), “A large number of foreign firms are outsourcing work to India as these LPOs offer quality work at a lower rate.” Also, India produces a large number of legal professionals whose working language is English, so Indian LPOs are much in demand.

So what is the job profile of a lawyer in an LPO firm? According to Goswami, it involves “quantitative/low-skilled tasks, qualitative /skill-intensive tasks, legal transcription, drafting contracts, research memoranda and pleadings and briefs”. Chowdhury claims that the chunk of the work comes from American and the UK law firms and thus “familiarity with their law always gives the company an edge over its competitors.”

The job could be contractual or on an hourly-wage basis. However, most LPOs prefer working on a contract basis. This is hassle-free, while in an hourly-wage system, issues of “wasting time to earn more” arise.

No specific eligibility is required to join an LPO. “You just need a law degree. Since the low-end job can be done by non-lawyers, paralegals are likely to prosper. Universities here don’t train domain-specific lawyers though training in IPR, finance and insurance law is being offered now,” says Chowdhury.

LPOs have changed the law scene in India. Says Geetanath Ganguly, lawyer and executive chairman, Legal Aid Services, “The scope of employment for lawyers is limited, LPOs offer wonderful opportunities.” The average salary for an attorney in an LPO is around Rs 25,000 a month. Adds Anirban Majumder, lecturer, NUJS, “LPO is important in terms of placement and recruitment. Although to date law firms recruit most students, I am sure that in a few years LPOs will hold sway.”

However, Goswami adds a word of caution: “In this sector, paying the average market salary will not do. The nature of work is monotonous and the job profile doesn’t offer good prospects when compared to law firms.” There are other turn-offs as well. Since it’s staffed 24x7, employees are required to work in shifts. And the job is so routine that practising law professionals aren’t attracted to LPOs. The work is not challenging enough and fails to attract the best talent since undertaking research does not add much value to CVs.

At the end of the day it’s your decision to join or not to join an LPO. But with LPOs, job options are certainly increasing. Agrees Arpita Chatterjee of JCC Law College,“I, for one, would love to join an LPO and since the scenario is not rigid any more, I’ll bag a well-paid position to boot.”

Illustrations : Ashoke Mullick