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Legal process outsourcing companies (LPOs) are making headway as disrupters in the legal industry. With expected year-over-year growth of 32% for the next five years, they represent the fastest-growing segment of the legal market. As a result, a lot of media attention is given to doom-and-gloom stories about offshoring and advancements in technology displacing workers and leading to social and economic upheaval. Although it sounds intimidating, young lawyers would be wise to embrace these changes and use advancements in business process outsourcing and digital solutions to build on their own practice.

In other respects, young lawyers don't have a choice, because LPOs will likely reduce the number of jobs available overall. So that they can continue to thrive as the legal industry adapts to ever-increasing global flattening, young lawyers should be aware of how LPOs are affecting the industry. By doing so, they can work on developing the necessary skills and focus on managing the client relationship, which cannot simply be outsourced to lower-cost suppliers,  as they move their way up through partnership and firm management ranks.

Why Do LPOs Matter?

LPO is the practice of a law firm or corporation transferring the work of attorneys, paralegals and other legal support services to external suppliers located domestically or overseas (or a hybrid of both). LPOs are disrupting the legal services industry through the combination of specialized work, unique delivery models, digital solutions in the form of legal technology, and cost-effective pricing structures. At the same time, LPOs are increasing the scope and capabilities of law firms on a global scale.

LPOs range from independent service providers to global arms of the Big Four accounting firms and multinational law firms. Latham & Watkins, Eversheds Sutherland, Greenberg Traurig and Baker McKenzie are just a few of the big law disrupters providing their own LPO offerings—often called alternative legal service providers. LPOs traditionally focus on delivering services ranging from administrative work to back-office operation centers covering word processing, finance, human resources and technology. But they are now offering more sophisticated legal services—work traditionally handled by law firm associates—such as litigation and investigation support, due diligence, contract review, basic legal research and writing, regulatory risk and compliance.

What Can Young Lawyers Do?

As LPOs assume the more routine and less complicated legal work from large firms, young lawyers may feel the urge to panic about how they will be able to position themselves as key players and grow within their firms. While the nature of the work of lawyers and firms is changing, it's moving in a positive direction, one that will provide clients with the maximum return on investment for legal services and allow attorneys to focus on the type of work that truly requires a legal education. Young lawyers can benefit from the changes happening in the industry and navigate law firms' shifting business models by following a few recommendations.

First, young lawyers can confront the changes in the legal industry by redoubling their efforts on refining core ­competencies because, after all, that's what LPOs ­enable companies to achieve by alleviating the strain of rudimentary work. In addition, there are some skills that cannot be ­outsourced (especially offshore) due to ethical rules, conflict-of-interest rules and duties of confidentiality that bind attorneys in the United States but have no force and effect in other countries. Thus, it would benefit young attorneys to focus on skills that are not easily replaced by LPOs or that only U.S.-licensed lawyers can practice, such as mergers and acquisitions, trial advocacy and arbitration, negotiation, dealmaking, litigation strategy, sophisticated legal research and writing and subject-matter expertise, to name a few.

Second, quality control is difficult to manage with an LPO, especially those operating offshore. One size does not fit all when it comes to outsourcing work. Firms need to ensure that their LPOs meet expectations in terms of quality and culture, and that they set clear guidelines for personnel providing services to the firm. Therein lies a huge opportunity for young lawyers to manage the firm's LPO partners and the quality of work produced by the LPO provider. Young lawyers will benefit by developing business acumen and sharpening project management skills. These skills will also prove useful when managing vendor relationships or experts on large projects. This will also present the opportunity for young lawyers to practice strategic planning, relationship building and networking, opportunities that are not typically available to junior associates.

Third, young lawyers should advocate for their firms to develop a strategic plan to make up for the potential training gap resulting from skills that are learned when mundane work is outsourced, and ensure they are still receiving the requisite education while mundane legal tasks are being outsourced more frequently. For example, associates can request that their firms allocate the cost savings (and profits) from using LPOs to giving them nonbillable credit to develop more substantive skills through shadowing and mentoring opportunities.

Fourth, by learning the aforementioned technological skills, young lawyers will be able to set themselves apart in their firms, as well as be strong, credible resources for their clients. Through an advanced knowledge of the use and application of programs such as Brainspace analytics, young lawyers will be able to thoroughly advise clients in an array of different fields on how best to use legal technology and data analytics for their respective companies and set themselves apart from legal service provider competition.

Finally, young lawyers should remember that neither artificial intelligence nor low-cost alternative labor will be able to replace best-in-class, client-first, quality service. Associates should now more than ever work on building their reputation and brand by always being willing to take on new assignments and challenges, working with as many partners in the firm as possible, demonstrating that they're taking in stride the industry's changes, practicing with integrity and having a good attitude at work. These are attributes that always have and always will make a young lawyer indispensable to their teams, the clients they serve and the firms in which they work.

The views expressed here are personal to the authors and do not represent the opinions of their employers.

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