Indian LPOs all set to tap $21-bn Australian mkt

After American and Japanese markets, home-grown legal process outsourcing firms are now gearing up to tap the $21-billion Australian legal market.

Pegged at $21 billion in terms of industry revenue in 2009, the Australian legal market is projected to grow by about 1 per cent year-on-year.

While there are many law firms that are operational in the Australian market, it remains largely untapped by off-shore legal outsourcing companies. Market experts state that though there are around 35,000 players in this segment, the market is dominated only by six or seven top ones.

Indian LPOs, such as Pangea3, are set to benefit the most from legal outsourcing in Australia. The Mumbai-based company had recently tied up with Australian law firm Advent Lawyers to set up its base there.

"Australia is a tremendous market. In fact, we are among the first legal process outsourcing companies to have entered the Australian market," Pangea3 co-CEO Sanjay Kamlani said.

Solutions offered by the firms range from day-to-day commercial contract drafting, corporate governance, M&A due diligence, risk management and compliance, IPR services and litigation support, and e-discovery.

Almost 40 per cent of the services offered are either administrative, personal or property-based, an official with an LPO firm said.

Indian firms are currently helping in-house counsels in Australia integrate legal technology solutions and off-shore legal talent solutions into their own processes, dramatically enhancing the value-addition to their organisations without burning holes in their pockets."Of the total cost incurred by a firm in Australia, about 33 per cent is spent on wages or rent -- something that can be greatly minimised by outsourcing to low-cost destinations," Kamlani said.

Stating that there is not much competition from other emerging markets such as the Philippines, Kamlani stated that Indian professionals have, through years of experience, developed extensive process expertise that is highly respected by clients in the West as well as Apac.

Indian LPOs have already cornered a sizeable chunk of business in the multi-million US and Japanese markets.