The full form of LPO is Legal Process Outsourcing.

The legal industry has experienced a global paradigm shift in recent years in the delivery model for legal services. This new model, known as legal process outsourcing or LPO, involves transferring the work of attorneys, paralegals and other legal professionals to external vendors located domestically and overseas. Legal outsourcing is growing in popularity as law firms and corporate legal departments seek to minimize costs, increase flexibility and expand their in-house capabilities. Outsourcing legal work domestically or to overseas providers, known as offshoring, offers several key advantages. 

One of the most significant advantages of outsourcing legal functions is cost savings. Organizations can reduce their cost structures through labor arbitrage—the wage differential between in-house legal personnel and outside vendors—to reap tremendous cost benefits. For example, an in-house attorney might cost the firm $150 an hour while a vendor attorney might cost $75 an hour.

Offshoring overseas can sometimes produce even greater cost benefits. Legal employees in overseas markets earn 30 to 70 percent less than comparable employees in the U.S. and the U.K. Infrastructure costs in India and other overseas markets may also be lower.

Legal process outsourcing can be a significant cost-saving measure. Instead of dedicated internal resources, discrete legal services are transferred to external companies, local lawyers, or paraprofessionals. Think about all the mundane routine tasks that can be done by outside help. You can leverage the strength of other experts to save time, cut costs, and reduce your workload. This allows you to focus on what you do best. In other words, bringing in new business for your firm and offering top service to existing clients.

To make practicing law more profitable, it’s important to really understand and use your strengths. Unfortunately, running a law firm, just like any business, involves plenty of tasks that compete for your attention. This is where legal process outsourcing can be leveraged. There are plenty of professional outsourced legal services available, as well as freelance lawyers, and lower-cost practitioners.

A common point of confusion arises from the word “outsourcing”. So, it’s important to recognize the distinction between legal process outsourcing and offshoring. Below are brief definitions.

• Legal process outsourcing is using local lawyers and professionals to take on certain tasks like document review, scanning, and non-substantive court appearances.
• Offshoring is the process of employing cheap overseas labor to complete tasks remotely.