Legal Process Outsourcing Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Location (Offshore, On-shore), By Service (E-discovery, Patent Support, Litigation Support), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023-2030

The global legal process outsourcing market size is estimated to reach USD 117.89 billion by 2030, registering growth at a CAGR of 31.4% from 2023 to 2030, according to this report. A legal process outsourcer provides legal support to law firms and legal organizations at a lesser cost. Even though the work outsourced to legal process outsourcing (LPO) providers is primarily process-oriented, there are several niche LPOs that carry out legal services with considerably high levels of analytical skills. These tasks include patent application drafting, and legal research, subject to training imparted by the clients.

The LPO industry has developed significantly over the years as the number of LPO providers has grown considerably. Currently, the services are delivered from the LPOs with staff in England, the U.S., South America, the Philippines, and Canada. Moreover, the players have expanded from small boutique providers to business process outsourcing, global consulting, and technology firms. As the LPO players enter the market and the existing players expand their capabilities, it becomes more crucial for the customers to choose an LPO provider best suited to their requirements.

Furthermore, offshore outsourcing has been employed to a large extent, and demand for onshore outsourcing is expected to increase during the forecast period; the segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 34.0% over the forecast period. On-shore outsourcing is an attractive solution for companies that prefer to collaborate with organizations in the same country. Outsourcing to companies in the same country also provides advantages such as a shared regulatory framework.

Notable industry trends include preference towards on-shore outsourced solutions for better control and security. In addition to enhanced control and security, on-shore outsourcing also provides the advantage of a shared regulatory framework. Furthermore, increased demand by stakeholders for delivering efficient, cost-effective services with the help of unique and innovative methods has resulted in the use of advanced service delivery models, including the use of on-shore locations to deliver LPO services. A majority of LPO service providers have automated solutions that enable efficient language processing and searching within documents. As the legal departments of several corporate organizations lack automation and integrated technology solutions, critical legal tasks, which require detailed document verification, are outsourced to LPOs.

With technology penetrating deeply in internal operations, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is another factor taking the legal industry to a new level. The software solutions enabled with AI capabilities have garnered the utmost importance among law firms to enhance their efficiency and reduce timelines. Document production and proofreading of documents are efficiently done with the help of automation software. Team collaboration software is further streamlining the execution of all documentation processes. The significance of all these developments and technologies has attributed to a greater value to the LPOs by decreasing their costs and increasing convenience.

Several companies operating in the market is focusing on introducing innovative solutions powered by data science and AI. In October 2022 UnitedLex, launched a first-ever Contract Data as a Service (CDaaS). It combines data science, technology, and expert review, for converting tedious contract legalese into organized data that facilitates business decisions, ensures compliance, increases profitability, and reduces risk. Based on the company’s own Contract Data Model, this new solution consists of over 1,400 structured contract positions, which offers mission-critical insights and data mining capabilities.

Legal Process Outsourcing Market Report Highlights

• Outsourcing agreements are expected to be placed under increased scrutiny owing to the potential for rule changes in the U.S., U.K., and India
• In terms of location, on-shore segment is estimated to record a CAGR of over 34.0% from 2023 to 2030 as this outsourcing types serves as an attractive solution for companies that prefer to collaborate with organizations in the same country
• In terms of service, patent support segment had accounted for a revenue share of nearly 23.0% in 2022. This can be credited to the growing awareness among organizations to hire legal services to protect their technology and inventions
• LPO providers primarily focus on the establishment of back offices or centers in emerging markets of India, the Philippines, and South Africa, among others
• Law firms have started deploying document automation and NLP (Natural Language Processing) capabilities to cater significantly to the reinvention of the legal industry
• Legal regulations differ geographically, which is viewed as a barrier by cautious organizations considering the outsourcing of legal services