Legal outsourcing, or legal process outsourcing (LPO), involves using an outside firm or legal services company to perform legal work. Often, relatively mundane, simple, repetitive tasks that do not require hard-core legal reasoning skills are the first to be outsourced. More complex legal services such as document review, research, patent review, and e-discovery are also being outsourced more and more to third-party vendors, either within the United States or abroad, where labor rates are much less expensive. One of the top destinations in the world for legal process outsourcing, or LPO, is the Republic of the Philippines.
According to reports, LPO is the fastest growing sector in Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) industry. The LPO industry grew by 40-60% worldwide in the last year alone. Global LPO revenues should reach $2.7 billion by 2018. Factors responsible for this immense growth include the availability of high-speed Internet, growth of cloud-based case management systems, the commoditization of legal services, improvements in data security and storage, and greater access to low-cost foreign-born legal talent. In short, it just makes sense for some law firms to offshore legal processes to the Philippines.
Litigation support companies in the Philippines allow U.S. legal firms to reduce and control operating costs while gaining access to world-class staff capabilities. They also allow firms to process cases 24/7, around the clock.The Philippines is ripe for excellence in outsourcing, thanks to the inexpensive operating costs and talented labor pool. The culture is friendly to the West and is home to the fifth largest English-speaking population in the world.
The Philippines has also become an attractive LPO destination for U.S. firms because the islands' large, English speaking, highly educated pool of workers.
The fast pace of technological innovation with respect to communication and collaboration has also played a huge role in the growth of the phenomenon. Today, educated Filipinos with a deep understanding of U.S. law, or specific legal processes, are joining the LPO talent pool daily. In fact, many lawyers in the Philippines have been admitted to the New York Bar, California Bar, or the bar associations of other States.
U.S. law firms prefer legal outsource agreements with Filipino companies due to their massive labor pool of native English speaking professionals and top of their class graduates. Lawyers and paralegals with specific legal expertise are also joining firms in the U.S., and working virtually. The Philippine legal framework is based primarily on US law. The similarity in culture between the U.S. and the Philippines also allows for groups in both countries to work together seamlessly, with ease.
