The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is gearing up to carry out a review of legal process outsourcing (LPO), as the number of firms using external outsourcing companies for legal work increases.

The body is considering conducting a "thematic review" to identify issues or risks that warrant regulatory changes or additional supervision. The prime focus for the SRA is to ensure that outsourcing legal work to an external provider does not absolve the law firm of responsibility for the matter outsourced.

A spokesperson for the SRA said: "Although we have not made any final decision, [LPO] is such a growing and fast-developing issue that we may undertake a thematic review next year to identify whether there are any particular issues or risks that require changes to our current regulatory requirements or whether certain outsourcing arrangements need particular attention in the supervision process."

The review comes as the regulator looks at LPO as part of its consultation on the latest draft of its handbook, which is due to be launched in April next year.

In the current version of the handbook the SRA states in chapter four that outsourcing should only be undertaken when the delegator is "satisfied that the provider has taken all appropriate steps to ensure clients' confidential information will be protected".

Additionally, the handbook states that outsourcing must not "jeopardise the quality of legal activities nor impair the quality of internal controls" or "impact on the SRA's ability to monitor compliance with all obligations in the handbook".

Last month CMS Cameron McKenna partners gave their seal of approval to plans to outsource the firm's back-office support departments to Integreon, while Herbert Smith last week opted to set up its own office in Belfast to handle volume disputes work rather than using an external LPO.

The news comes as the SRA today (30 November) also set out further details outlining how it intends to deliver outcomes-focused regulation and use risk-based regulation to implement the guidelines included in its new handbook due out next year.

The regulator wants to focus its efforts on identifying risks before they happen rather than penalising firms or individuals after they have breached prescriptive rules.

SRA chief executive Antony Townsend said: "We remain firmly on target to become an outcomes-focused regulator by October next year. This paper sets out clearly how the SRA is approaching the task and what this will mean for consumers and law firms."

For more, see: