Pinsent Masons' former head of litigation Nigel Kissack has left the firm to join global legal process outsourcer (LPO) Exigent as a global strategy consultant.

Kissack, who joined Pinsents as a partner from DLA Piper in 1997, is familiar to Exigent after playing a lead role on Pinsents' 2009 move to outsource process-driven litigation work to the LPO's Cape Town base in South Africa.

Kissack's new role will see him advise clients on LPO strategy and the outsourcing of legal activities across all major practice groups, as well as helping clients make savings through process re-engineering and implementing leaner delivery models.

Kissack held the role of head of litigation at Pinsents until May 2012, when he was replaced by the present head of litigation and compliance James Bullock following the merger with McGrigors.

Exigent chief executive David Holme said: "We have been working with Nigel for many years, changing the way litigation support is delivered at Pinsent Masons. Nigel has a reputation for innovative thinking around legal service delivery."

Kissack commented: "Exigent is continuing to lead the way in developing new delivery models for legal work. As a legal business strategist, I'm looking forward to advising on outsourcing and other cost effective ways of working to deliver excellent results. The industry is fast evolving and adaptation is going to be critical to success. My keen interest in the use of new technology to add value and make professional services more cost effective will play a major part in all discussions."

Exigent, which in addition to Cape Town has bases in London, New York, Sydney, Perth and Toronto, also provides legal outsourcing services to a number of other law firms including Hogan Lovells and Eversheds.