DLA Piper Is Latest to Outsource Back Office Ops in New Deal With HBR
Four DLA Piper employees have moved to HBR Consulting under the agreement—part of a resurgence in outsourcing activity among the country's largest law firms.
May 19, 2020 at 05:18 PM
3 minute read
Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM
Joining a growing cohort in the Am Law 100, DLA Piper is turning over some of its back-office operations to HBR Consulting, entering into a five-year arrangement that will see four employees transferred from the firm to HBR.
Under the agreement, which went into effect March 1, the firm will rely on HBR's SpendConnect analytics system to improve its procurement processes and track third-party contracts.
"We wanted to partner with an expert in this field who could help us scale the work and unlock cost savings opportunities in ways that simply were not possible on our own," Janet Celly, chief business operations officer at DLA Piper, said in a statement. "HBR was the natural choice for us; they bring deep subject matter expertise, industry insights and the ability to attract and retain the best talent," she continued.
As of early January, HBR's managed services division had been hired by 17 Am Law 50 firms, and about 25% of the Am Law 100, according to Chris Petrini-Poli, the company's executive chairman, with seven new law firms turning to the company to outsource various functions in 2019 alone. The company now says that 40% of the Am Law 100 are on board—an increase a spokeswoman attributes to both new clients and new managed services offerings.
According to both parties to the arrangement, that level of experience left DLA Piper and HBR comfortable in moving forward with the transition in spite of the global uncertainty stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. They added that the new processes are functioning smoothly even in the current remote working environment.
"HBR is thrilled to be announcing this new aspect in our relationship with DLA Piper. We look forward to continued collaboration across the firm to unlock value and produce significant bottom-line results to support its continued growth in the market," Chris Ryan, vice president of client development at HBR, said in a statement.
Pettrini-Poll said in January that HBR's managed services division now has more than 200 employees. The company has an operations center in Dayton, Ohio, but when HBR hires staff from law firms they often stay in their current cities, with more career and training opportunities, he said.
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