As firms seem ever keener to take the running of low-cost legal process centres into their own hands, specialist outsourcing providers are facing some pretty stiff competition.

A track record of rapid expansion has put to bed some of the fears that lawyers don't have the business acumen to run their own back offices to maximum efficiency.

By 2019 Allen & Overy plans to have some 500 staff in its Belfast support after launching with just 300 in 2011. The likes of Ashurst, Addleshaw Goddard and Herbert Smith Freehills have all reported similar growth at their own low cost offerings.

But chief executive of legal process outsourcer Integreon Bob Gogel thinks large parts of the market are still his for the taking. But how will he convince firms that the services of a professional outsourcer are better than what they can achieve on their own?

"Outsourcing got a really bad name in the early 2000s," he tells Legal Week over lunch near the firm's new London office in Tower Hill's Thomas More Square. "People said lots of jobs would be lost. But it's not about job losses, it's about refocus."

That refocus is desperately needed in the mid-market according to Gogel, who is currently in discussions with both new and existing clients in that space.

"The mid-size firms will suffer in the recovery," he believes. "They can't all afford fancy offices… We're looking actively at opportunities for mid-size firms who would love to get rid of their overheads."

He adds: "Most of these firms are looking for very specific types of support as opposed to firm wide engagements. [But] over time, as these relationships evolve, it is not uncommon for our clients to adopt some additional services too."

One of those key clients is CMS Cameron McKenna. After signing a 10-year, £583m deal to supply the firm's entire support staff function in 2010, Integreon had occupied a floor in the same Mitre House building near Barbican as CMS. But with CMS moving office to Cannon Street soon, Integreon also took the opportunity to find a new home in London.

"It's not as if we moved everybody a million miles away," says Gogel. "Even though we were in the same building and it was easy to go up and see Duncan [Weston, CMS managing partner], I run a global business here."

He recognises Integreon's offer can be a tough sell, especially when firms are increasingly pursuing their own nearshoring schemes. He says the sales and negotiation process normally takes around two years from start to finish.

Gogel believes the breadth and flexibility of a professional outsourcer's services are a key selling point. A third of Integreon's business is litigation based, including electronic discovery and managed document review services, something thatindividual firms themselves may not be set up to handle so well.

"I worry about a lot of things, but having enough lawyers isn't one of them" Gogel says, citing an increasing pool of contract lawyers at Integreon's disposal as many in the profession begin to be convinced of the benefits of not being tied to a particular law firm.

Over the past year, Integreon has expanded five of its twelve global delivery centres. A significant area of business growth has been in foreign language review, run out of the company's multi-lingual review centre in Bristol.

The desire to build up the company's international operations should hardly come as a surprise then. In India, Integreon currently has a full time staff numbering around 500, and is now looking at a new US office and adding to headcount in South Africa.

Gogel is also toying with the idea of turning Integreon's in-house market research base in Krakow into a unit that can also handle litigation work in Eastern Europe though he admits still not sure if the volume of work can justify a permanent litigation team in Poland. "In central Europe people do litigation but obviously not to the same scale as in the western world" he says.

Gogel seems intent on demystifying exactly what it is his company does and why law firms still needs the services of companies like his.

"I'm not bashful about saying I'm in the outsourcing industry… People think it's a weird profession. But when I have a package to send to US overnight, I outsource that to FedEx. When you're a GC you outsource to law firms… It's an industry that will continue to change. Usually it's crises that cause that change."

Gogel is hoping that if firms old and new continue to feel the financial squeeze from clients, he'll be on hand to help alleviate the pressure.