Talent hunt: The US is a major destination for Indian LPO work

Outsourcing is becoming the new gold rush,” says Abhay Dhir, president of Atlas Legal Research, a legal process outsourcing firm with offices in Dallas and Bangalore. Legal process outsourcing (LPO) is an industry in which legal departments and organisations outsource legal work from areas such as the United States or Europe, where it is costly to perform such work, to areas where it can be performed at a significantly lower cost.

Outsourcing legal work to India costs upto 80 per cent less than the cost of using the services of US law firms. Because it is far less expensive to hire talent in countries such as India, an outsourcing company is in the enviable position of being able to commit larger teams of talented workers to specific areas of concentration. LPO units have emerged as a spin-off from the spectacularly successful Indian BPO industry.

In the coming years, India is expected to have a market share of over seven per cent in the global LPO industry. Professionals in this industry render IT-enabled services for various legal processes of clients.

What do I have to do?

LPOs cover services such as the drafting of contracts, legal due diligence, arbitration support, intellectual property rights (IPR), document management, publication writing support, document review and analysis, contract summary, legal research and case management, paralegal services and administrative and secretarial activities like following up with clients.

LPO services can also assist organisations with shareholding, partnerships, banking and contract disputes. Some law firms allow clients to use voice or video conference facilities for online collaboration. The toll-free lines and communication facilities provide unparalleled cost benefits.

An LPO vendor leads from the front to help its clients in a wide variety of matters including negotiation management, technical assistance, franchise and purchase agreements and the resolution of disputes between proprietors and their staff.

Offshore outsourcing results in fees averaging as little as $2,000 per application, as opposed to law firm fees of $8,000 to $12,000 for the same application, if the same work is done by a patent law firm in the US.

What should I study?

You should have a bachelors degree in law, followed by a masters degree (LLM) or a postgraduate diploma with specialisation in any area of law.

Since most of the LPO work is outsourced from the US, proficiency in American English, drafting and research methodology are necessary for success.

Comfort with workplace technology is another important prerequisite as all product creation and delivery is done by using computer applications.

What next?

India is set to achieve significant growth from its current share of three to four per cent to six to seven per cent in the $250 billion global market of LPOs by 2010. According to the BPO Council of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM), more than 200 top US companies are looking for offshore locations. Legal outsourcing has already created 12,000 job opportunities in India alone and this figure is expected to rise to 79,000 by 2015.

Major countries providing a legal services market for India include the US, the UK, France, Australia, South Korea, Japan and China. Some well-known LPO firms are Legal2legal, Bitscape, Mindcrest, Intellevate, Pangea3, Seth Associates, RVS Global Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Mindspring Solutions and SDD Global.

You can start as an associate in the LPO business and go on to become senior associate, project manager, senior project manager, vice-president, president and director. After three to five years of experience, you can earn a salary of Rs 35,000 to 70,000 per month. Though there are many opportunities in this sector, you must have expertise to succeed.

where to study

• National Law School of India University, Bangalore.
• National Law Institute University, Bhopal.
• West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Calcutta.
• Government Law College, Mumbai.
• Faculty of Law, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.