CRISIL Research: Legal Process Outsourcing: All Set for Rapid Growth

Mumbai - August 28, 2006

The Indian Information Technology-enabled Services (ITeS) industry has witnessed stupendous growth in the recent past, and has, since, progressed to higher value added services (knowledge process outsourcing or KPO-based services). Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) is one such area that holds tremendous potential .

CRISIL Research believes that the availability of a large number of law graduates in India and the significant cost differential in manpower and infrastructure between the US (client destination) and India (offshore destination) will facilitate the Indian ITeS industry in capturing a share of this large addressable market in the US.

Sudhir Nair, Head, CRISIL Research, adds, "The addressable market for offshore legal services in the US alone is estimated at $25 billion, and Indian LPO firms can target large / mid-sized private law firms and corporates (who are currently clients of private law firms) directly. Each of these markets present varied opportunities and requires distinctive business models and strategies. Options available to Indian law firms are discussed in detail in a recent CRISIL Research study on the ITeS industry. For instance - Indian LPO firms would initially address the private law firms in the US legal industry. Besides, Indian firms could even try to garner some revenues through the direct route as well (i.e., by targeting US corporations). The combined revenues from the private law firms and the corporations are estimated at around $4.7 billion. As the industry matures, we expect a substantial increase in the Indian LPOs targeting US corporations."

Depending on the success obtained by Indian LPOs in capturing this market, the revenues of the Indian industry could range from $1.5 to $2 billion. The industry would need to add about 33,000 lawyers to its existing strength to achieve these revenues.

Concluded.

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