Key Findings & Highlights:

NelsonHall has segmented the LPO industry into four segments based on drivers behind organizations' decisions to outsource their legal processes:

• Legal Cost Reduction
• Contract Centralization and Standardization
• Legal Process Re-engineering
• Legal Risk Management.

Main benefits sought across segments are:

• Improved turnaround times, achieved via better processes and workflows
• Reduced costs, achieved via offshoring and faster turnaround times
• Ability to undertake large volumes of review work, achieved via personnel scalability
• Reduced risk of litigations and investigations, delivered via improved visibility into the contractual environment and into regulations and legislations.

The LPO market is fast evolving, currently dominated by the 'Legal Process Re-engineering' segment, especially in the U.S. where the market is most mature. However 'Legal Cost Reduction', the first segment, will see the strongest growth through 2018 due to larger new client-driven revenue, as acceptance for LPO grows among new markets. LPO activity is increasingly being driven by EMEA (mainly U.K.), while APAC is emerging as a key geography, mostly led by Australia.

In terms of offerings, LPO services are typically split into litigation and regulatory investigations support, contract services, compliance support, legal research and Intellectual ('IP') services.

The litigation and regulatory investigations offering makes up the largest proportion of global LPO revenue and is offered to both law firms and corporate organizations. The other offering categories are often bundled as 'Corporate services' by vendors.

Currently the main target industries are the regulated financial services and life sciences sectors, including healthcare and pharmaceutical, as well as the technology sector. Natural resources will become a key target industry over the next two years, and technology and pharmaceutical organizations will increasingly be targeted for IP services.

Among the main bundles of offerings, emphasis is being placed on compliance and related services in support of risk management, with demand driven by highly regulated industries.

Law firms are becoming more involved in the delivery of LPO services, with the emergence of collaboration models within LPO vendors' delivery strategies. New types of vendors are likely to change the shape of the market in the next few years, such as Alternative Business Structures in the U.K., while law firms are starting to take an interest in developing their capability to deliver large scale commoditized legal services. Some vendors with LPO experience are evolving into BPO and consulting services for legal professionals.

India and the U.S. continue to be the most dominant delivery center locations; all traditional BPO providers have a heavy concentration of offshore delivery, but pure plays increasingly offer onshore capability in response to the market's need for local legislative knowledge, multilanguage review skills and security/confidentiality measures.

Nearshoring is growing, with South Africa and Poland becoming key delivery locations.