LPO's (Legal BPO)! Are they the next big thing in India???

From my experience in handling the legal practice in my previous role, I came accross a lot of information on the upcoming of a new industry called "Legal Process Outsourcing".I've done some further research on this & hope the fllowing is good & informative reading to all the visitors on my blog.

IN TODAY'S competitive world of business, gaining efficiency and staying profitable have become the corporate mantras. Most international law firms based in the US and Europe are taking the Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) route to be lucrative. Several international law firms, legal departments of large corporations and also state and federal government agencies are increasingly outsourcing their legal work to India to reduce cost and increase efficiency. Like other BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) activities, India's legal services are affordable and efficient.
A website refers to a Nasscom report that foresees significant growth in the Indian outsourcing market for legal services. News reports are projecting steady growth of legal jobs being outsourced offshore. Growing from 12000 jobs now to 35000 by 2010 to 79000 by 2015 with 60% -70% going to INDIA. NASCOM says that this is a substantial change from credit card processing and similar BPO services to hi end work. Some of the legal work now being outsourced includes legal research and organizing documents for litigation.Legal Outsourcing has been gaining momentum rapidly and the maturity and sophistication of the Indian workforce is the primary enabler to white collar outsourcing work.
India is set to achieve significant growth from its current share of 3-4 per cent to 6-7 per cent in the 250 billion dollar global market of Legal Process Outsourcing, by 2010.According to the BPO Council of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM), more than 200 top US companies alone are looking for offshore locations towards achieving saving of 30-70 per cent.The Chamber says, "India is already known for its large and increasing pool of quality engineering graduates, many of who are being attracted to the patent services segment of legal BPO." Estimates report that by early 2006, there were over 400 professionals engaged in providing patent services such as literature searches, prior-art searches, technology and patentability assessment, patent claim mapping, etc, from India. There are over 600 patent agents registered with the Indian Patent Office in India and about 300 Intellectual Property professionals who are non-registered. About one-third of these 900 professionals currently provide patent services to European and American end clients, and this number is likely to double to 1,800-2,000 by 2010.
It's Act 2 of the Indian BPO story. As the number and variety of services grows, a large number of new career opportunities are being created.
ASSOCHAM President Anil K Agarwal says, the conservative estimates of the current addressable market potential for legal services, outsource-able from the US alone are pegged at 3-4 billion dollars.
This comprises paralegal and research support, contract drafting and revising and contract management, library services, patent and trademark prosecution and litigation support, he said.Major countries providing legal services market include USA, UK, France, Australia, South Korea, Japan and China.However, given the advantages of Indian lawyers, experts believe that it is unlikely that other Asian countries will compete in this sector, as has been the case with call centres.
Popular BPO outfits, which undertake legal outsourcing, are OfficeTiger, Intellevate, Prism and Comat. Hourly rates charged range between $40 and $60.The same work performed in the US would cost a whopping $350.
Offshore outsourcing is resulting in fees averaging as little as 2,000 dollars per application, as opposed to law firm fees of 8,000 dollars to 12,000 dollars for those same applications, performed by a US patent law firm.
There are a host of firms providing legal services and, hence, a lot of careers waiting to be made. These are in four key areas:
*Legal Transcription and Drafting Services*Patent Prosecution*Legal Research*Other Services
Outsourcing legal work to India costs up to 80 per cent less than the cost of using the services of American law firms.
The advantage of the time zone, availability of English speaking attorneys and familiarity with common law doctrines attract foreign firms. Indian attorneys with US/UK qualifications are sought after. International attorneys are impressed not only by the labour cost differential, but also by the quality and speed of work done. Most LPO outfits in India are reported to be staffed 24/7.

The way it seems prima facia... Its the next big thing!!!
So what are your plans for the future???
~Sumeet~

(The information has been gathered using various sources on the internet)