The $3 billion LPO sector is predicted to grow at 20 per cent annually, according to a report by investment bank Baird. It predicts that traditional law firms will have to transform as fee pressure and client preferences for fixed price models grow with LPO addressing these preferences. The report also points out that  wider acceptance of outsourcing has supported service delivery via on-shore, near-shore and off-shore centres. 

Merger activity

In the report, “Transformation of Business Process Outsourcing,” the bank states  that the Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) subsector experienced a significant increase in M&A activity with technology-enabled service providers among the leading targets. In the US, electronic discovery (“eDiscovery”) has taken off. eDiscovery analyses documentation using algorithms to highlight relevant information, reducing review time and improving quality for the client.

BPO market

The $150 billion global business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is likely to see continued consolidation over the next few years. This will be driven by client demand for cost savings, value-added services and emerging technologies, the report says.