Aphelion Insider

The recent LPO Summit conference in New York featured a number of presentations focused on structuring relationships with LPO (legal process outsourcing) vendors.  Corporate legal departments looking to offshore legal work face a number of challenges in establishing an LPO arrangement.  Only a careful and reasoned approach will result in a working relationship that ultimately preserves or enhances work quality while reducing cost.  Given the nascent LPO industry and the increasing number of providers, it is undoubtedly a good idea for corporate legal departments to solicit the advice of outsourcing consultants and outside law firms with “outsourcing practices.”  At the LPO Summit, a number of these outsourcing consultants and outsourcing lawyers provided several good pointers about how to select an LPO and how to structure an outsourcing deal with an LPO.

But it may be risky to rely exclusively on the advice of outsourcing consultants and lawyers.  The danger stems from an overarching question that is not easy to resolve: is LPO more “legal” or more “outsourcing?”  To put it another way, is working with an LPO more like working with an IT outsourcing (“ITO”) or business process outsourcing (“BPO”) company, or is it more like working with outside counsel or a contract attorney staffing agency?  Continue reading ‘Forcing a Square Peg Into a Round Hole’ »

Not all LPOs are created the same.  For starters, project staffing and management options can run the gamut from temporary foreign contract attorneys to on-demand domestic associates to former partners from highly regarded U.S. and international firms.  Some LPOs compete on price, expertise, or breadth of service, and others a combination of all three. These companies’ corporate structures often mimic these competitive strategies by operating as solely domestic or foreign entities or as a hybrid onshore/offshore solution.  From a buyer’s perspective, there are pros and cons to working with a company that has adopted any one of these approaches.  Ultimately though, the goal is to devise a robust, efficient methodology for determining, ex ante, which among an ever growing number of LPOs offers the best combination of expertise, commitment to quality, affordability, flexibility and so on for a particular project - in sum, who offers the best value.      

Given the number of options available and the risks associated with making a bad decision, selecting the right LPO can be a difficult task.  And unlike purchasing a new car, a buyer can’t simply “kick the tires” or “check the oil” to determine value.  The calculus is more nuanced and subjective. 

To help protect LPO buyers from making a bad decision or suffering buyer’s remorse, below is a list of questions that should be asked before making any purchasing decision.  Continue reading ‘Kicking the Tires: What to Ask Before Purchasing LPO Services’ »