LPO (Legal Process Outsourcing) are the institutes and firms that undertake to do the legal work of foreign clients, to reduce the cost of litigation at their country. In other words, the top law firms in UK and USA find it expensive to employ legal staff to do the documentation work and find it cheaper to outsource the same work to countries like India. This work is mainly related to the documentation, wetting of documents reviewing of documents, categorizing (privileged, hot etc) and so on. The advent of IT (information Technology) the Information and Technology Enabled Services Industry has got a boom and LPOs contribute significantly. It’s not just and employment option but it’s a career opportunity. Reasons for the emergence of this industry are saving of cost efficiency and convenience.

Thus practically it so happens that when a law firm receives a case they seek the documents from the client and they ask the documents from the opponents also, as there is a provision of exchanging the documents before starting the trial or conduct of a case so that the case is well represented and well presented in the courts of law. While exchanging these documents law firms review all the documents very closely and they have a right under which they can hold some documents back saying that certain documents are privileged documents for example documents containing privileged communication between attorney and client or documents which contain lead for the case.

LPOs in India:

LPOs in India are adding to the employment generation in India, they are a significant part of the outsourcing Industry in India. Most of the LPOs are based in Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi (NOIDA) and some other metropolitan cities in India. The graduated in these cities and areas around have found a source of employment in LOPs which otherwise becomes difficult soon after the completion of law graduation.

The reasons for choosing India as preference are varied including sociological, economical, legal, political, geographical etc. in addition to this they get to use many advantages present in India like tax differences, Time differences, English proficient human sources, infrastructure, well-educated staff and management and understanding of common law system which is practiced in western countries.

Nature of work:

The nature of work involved is of a kind which can be termed as clerical work and involves following-

• Contract Review and Management
• E-Discoveries
• Service of Risk and Compliances
• Service of Due Diligence
• Services of Litigation Support
• Document Drafting and Production
• Legal Research
• Services in IPR (Intellectual Property Rights)

Basic Requirements:

To work in an LPOs there are certain requirements such as the law graduation, basic proficiency in English, good grammar and communication skills, the legal acumen of analyzing documents, and  capture legal aspects, with bare minimum computer skills, quality of paying attention to details and so on.

Top LPOs in India:

These following are some of the top LPOs in India:

1. Pangea3 operating since 2004.
2. GB Law Solutions operates from Delhi also offers BPO services.
3. Legal Source operates from Chennai.
4. Economic Services also operates from Chennai.
5. Trustman Advocate and Legal Solutions which operates from New Delhi.
6. LegalSonic also operates from Chennai.
7. OfficeTiger basically a KPO but offers LPO services and operates from Chennai.
8. Thuriam BPO and Knowledge Services basically KPO and BPO but also offers LPO services.
9. eCase Solutions operates from the city of Gurugram.
10. CosmoLegal Services operates from Hyderabad.
11. Quislex operates from Hyderabad.

Women and LPOs

Most of the women are of the opinion that they have to face lot of difficulties while practicing law in this male dominant country. Very few percentages of women are into practice of law as compared to the males in this country. LPOs have become a helping hand by providing employment opportunities to women. Today around 65 percent workforce in LPOs is of women. It also helps them in supporting their family in financial matters and also to have their own savings. There is no flexibility in work timings, less representation in management, exploitation etc. are some of the issues faced by Indian women in legal field and are the critical issues in their advancement while practicing law.

On the other hand, women in LPOs have the opportunity of getting into management and many  times work timings are flexible, safety and security are also ensured just like all other corporate work places. In addition to this the facility of a pickup cab and drop down till residential address has made it easier for women to work in LPOs without hesitation.

Challenges faced by women:

• Western working hours: The most challenging aspect of LPO industry is western working hours, since LPOs have to coordinate with the staff and management at western law firms therefore, Indian staff and management has to work according to their time and this affects women more than men for all obvious reasons.
• Stress: Woman working in LPOs are more stressful than other industry because they have to continuously sit in front of computer screens and work for long hours.
• Work Tension: Most of the times they have specific targets to be achieved in a given span of time which becomes a work tension for women, especially those who have to manage their home as well as office, and this leads to physical and psychological illness in women.
• Health Issues: Most of the women working in IT and LPO, BPO, KPO sectors are seen to report health issues and visit doctors more often, complaining about depression, vocal problems, fatigue, hair loss, menstrual disorder, vocal problems, sleeping disorder, back pain, eye strain, High Blood Pressure etc.
• Other work related issues: Deadlines of work completion, to attend continuous calls, insufficient holidays, late working hours, irregular shifts etc are other issues related to work.

Despite all the challenges faced by women working in Legal Process Outsourcing Industry, it is growing at an unprecedented rate and the industry has already completed a decade of its existence in India and is doing quite well. The advantages and opportunities provided by this industry in general to all the law graduates and in specific to women are greater than the issues they face. Thus it is all the more encouraging to work at Legal Process Outsourcing industry if we look at the practical difficulties faced at the other options faced in the legal profession. Law graduates are selected directly as campus interviews and they willingly join LPOs as immediate employment opportunity paying quite well. Women are finding it well within their abilities to maintain the balance between house and work and are adapting to the emerging trends in the legal profession.

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