Legal departments are looking to increase their direct use of legal outsourcing companies, cutting external law firms out of the process, a new survey has claimed. The market has also now worth over a billion dollars, employing some 9000 people, the 2012 Global LPO Market Study claims.
 

The survey, which was conducted by New York company The LPO Program, says that law firms will make more use of outsourcing in the future with US firms following in the footsteps of UK firms as they seek to find more cost-efficient ways to deliver legal services.
 

Other research in the LPO marketplace suggests that LPO itself is in for a harder time.  Legal consulting firm Fronterion predicted a problematic 2012 for outsourcing, foreseeing a profitability squeeze as rising wages in developing countries such as India makes the service more expensive.
 

http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/law-firms-039cut-out039-lpo-market
http://thelpoprogram.com/