"If you'd have said years ago that a magic circle law firm would be hoovering up a 60-strong paralegal centre in Newcastle, I would have been surprised."

The view from one law firm managing partner sums up the reaction by many to the news this week that Clifford Chance (CC) has sealed a deal to acquire Carillion's Newcastle-based legal services arm, Carillion Advice Services (CAS).

But while the takeover of CAS from the ashes of its collapsed parent company did come as something of a surprise to many, it has also attracted admiring comments, with some in the market describing it as a "bold" and "imaginative" move.

The deal – which has seen CC take on a 60-strong team of paralegals specialising in services such as unbundling, process and legal tech – was secured after interest from a number of other potential purchasers, including Pinsent Masons-backed 'New Law' startup Yuzu and alternative legal services provider Elevate.

For more than a decade, CC has drawn on legal and business support from a base in Gurgaon, India, now staffed by approximately 400 people. And while some would assume that the CAS acquisition represents a reappraisal of its low-cost offering, CC insists that CAS will provide a 'complementary' offering and that there are no plans for cutbacks in India.

The firm's move into India in 2007 came at a tipping point for the legal industry, amid expectations that many firms would move increasing volumes of lower-cost work out of the UK. However, in the intervening years, many have settled on options closer to home – including magic circle rivals Allen & Overy and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's moves into Belfast and Manchester – and some argue that CC is now playing "catch-up".

As Hogan Lovells global head of legal service delivery, Stephen Allen, remarks: "I think what CC has realised is that the future model isn't one size fits all. CC has operations in India, but I think they have realised they need operations onshore in the UK, either from a data protection or a skills point of view."

Jomati Consultants principal Tony Williams – a former CC managing partner – adds: "I think it is an interesting and imaginative move. I know CC has the India centre, but it is clear clients like onshoring or nearshoring, and this is a great opportunity to get something up and running."

However, another legal services delivery head suggests India may not have been able to provide everything CC required. "I am not sure India has really worked for them in the sense of being a fully effective option for a wide range of activities," he says. "With the timezone and other challenges, it has clearly not given them the range they needed and they may have felt, when talking to clients about efficient delivery, that they were looking a bit thin. They needed to play a bit of catch-up."

CC describes the acquisition as a "great complement" to its offshore services in India, with global client services solutions head Oliver Campbell saying it will allow the firm to provide low-cost, efficient support on large matters "without working with third parties".

According to Campbell, the team will "naturally lend itself to some areas" within the firm such as significant corporate transactions, litigation or regulatory investigations, while the deal also offers potential benefits given the established roster of in-house clients that already send work to CAS.

Campbell says: "We are always looking for opportunities to run the firm more efficiently and effectively, and when we learned that the CAS business was for sale we realised that the team would be a great complement to our existing client service model.

"Some in-house teams already outsource areas of work directly to CAS and we will be exploring the appetite for this in due course."

The CAS team also has expertise in a range of legal artificial intelligence tools, which CC is hoping to take advantage of. Campbell comments: "Looking at this in more detail is one of a number of areas that we will be working through over the coming weeks."

Herbert Smith Freehills global alternative legal services head Libby Jackson is another who speaks highly of the deal, commenting: "It's not simply a low cost play. If you see it as a low cost centre in the UK then you are underestimating the acquisition. I imagine the value they saw is in the mix of established processes in systems and people, and the experience and credibility of working with corporates."

The biggest challenge, according to Campbell, will be integration.

Jackson cautions: "What is of interest to me is, how will they integrate the business and how will it complement their strategy in this area, which has to date focused on India?

"CC has brought a team that has a way of working. They will bring their own commerciality to how they work, so the key will be getting access to value in an already established process. CC partners need to feel confident about the quality and the efficiency of the way work is done."

Other partners perceive the acquisition as one of CC's boldest attempts to cut costs yet. The firm has ramped up its focus on efficient legal services delivery in recent years, expanding its team of 'black belt' coaches and project managers, but this deal shows nothing is off the table.

One former CC partner comments: "The firm is moving away from the idea of selling premium legal services to selling the wherewithal to getting a deal done. This move seems to be consistent with that."

Fieldfisher managing partner Michael Chissick concludes: "I think it is a bold and interesting move by CC. I am hugely impressed."