Legal process outsourcing is one of the more flexible, adaptable trends in the business of law, as it can be applied to tasks as small as individual contract review or as large in scope as all-encompassing departmental or litigation support.
Well, this one is large.
Microsoft recently announced that they are outsourcing multi-jurisdictional legal support work, including legal research.
Why is this significant? Because this is an expansion of Microsoft's earlier test programs with LPO, which means they found the experience efficient, productive, safe, and valuable.
And that is a serious endorsement from one of the most dominant companies on the planet.
Microsoft dipped a toe in the LPO water five years ago when they began outsourcing associate-level IP and patent renewal work to qualified, international attorneys.
If they dipped a toe in the water five years ago, they're wading in now. Because this new agreement is branching out to general legal support work, operating separately from the IP and patent work.
According to Legal Week, "News of the outsourcing comes after Microsoft cut its legal budget by 15% over the last two years, leading to a 5% reduction in headcount. Before the cuts, Microsoft's legal department had an annual budget of $900m (£570m) and 1,050 staff, including 450 lawyers."
Microsoft's arrangement with Indian firm CPA is similar to the legal process outsourcing utilized by mining company Rio Tinto, which involves a team of 18 lawyers handling tasks such as contract review, drafting and legal research.
And this seems to be the sweet spot of legal outsourcing -- utilizing lower-cost yet fully trained international attorneys to complete the more redundant associate-level work, from one-off projects to scalable endeavors featuring teams of attorneys.
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1 comment:
Outsourcing is the best thing I've done for my business, the cost is lesser and the job well done! :)
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