Taking LPO to a new level

Martin Keyworth examines the new focus on LPO (Legal Process Outsourcing) and explains the critical need for legal organisations to look at new ways of doing business.

“We can deliver services from a broad variety of locations, are technology agnostic and can work with almost any platform or solution.”
-Martin Keyworth

Is LPO a new area of expertise for Steria?

Martin Keyworth. Steria has been successfully working across the UK and Europe for the last 40 years offering an extensive range of BPO (business process outsourcing) services to clients including banks, retail organisations, telcos and media companies as well as across government and the public sector.  But perhaps a lesser-known fact is that we also work extensively across both the legal and regulatory fields and are currently managing complex case management services for a leading medical/legal organisation.

Doesn’t a solicitor need to be involved in case management?

MK. Surprisingly no, although the process needs to be administered legally, the biggest challenge is administration, which requires rigour and attention to detail to ensure that all aspects are carried out efficiently.  And this is what Steria brings to the table – a proven ability to deliver regulatory compliance to proscribed standards and guidelines 24/7.  It’s what we do time after time and without boasting, we really are very good at it. 

What is your strategy in this sector?

MK. Simply to be the best LPO service provider in the market. We have made a significant investment in re-engineering the end-to-end case management process and have dramatically improved its efficiency and effectiveness. We can deliver services from a broad variety of locations, are technology agnostic and can work with almost any platform or solution. Steria can also leverage its delivery capability to flex according to volume shifts. This ensures that we can transform the legal process supply chain and deliver considerable cost and efficiency savings.

Does that mean you don’t just work from India?

MK. Yes that’s right. An agnostic delivery capability is fundamental to our strategy and we can deliver on an almost worldwide basis. India is no longer the key location for delivery of services and we now have centres right across Europe.  As an example, our Polish Delivery Centre is of a size, capability, sustainability and most importantly data privacy perspective, to offer the best, most flexible service to our clients.

You say that you ‘share the risk’ with your clients.  What does that mean?  

MK. We have a simple philosophy based around a single word – ‘partnership’. Steria's ability to reduce operating costs, to design and transform processes is something that we know we can deliver. But what most organisations really want is the ability to grow their business with a partner’ who will stand shoulder to shoulder with them, sharing the risk and giving them the ability to have an on-demand operational capability without making significant investment. And this is what we offer.  

So are you getting much traction in the sector?

MK. It’s all going very well and we are delighted with the market response to date.  The legal sector is traditionally very risk averse and steeped in a corporate governance structure that doesn’t tend to embrace holistic change.   Law firms face constant regulatory change and pressure on fees and the recent drop off in work has put them under considerable strain.  Our offering of expert LPO services with guaranteed service levels, regulatory rigour and significant efficiency savings is a great solution to many of these issues – and one which legal companies haven’t been slow to spot.

How does Steria differ from other LPO providers?

MK. We see ourselves as pioneers in the LPO space.   Although this market is very new, we believe that we have created a solution that will enable law firms to take the next evolutionary leap in their development.   Our ability to offer highly bespoke solutions at extremely cost effective levels is merely the starting point.  We are now working on an innovative partnership strategy with several key legal organisations   – allowing us to grow our LPO offering.  So all I can say is ‘watch this space’

To find out more, get in touch with Martin Keyworth directly on 01252 667236 or visit www.steria.co.uk/legal.  

Biography

Martin Keyworth is the Director of Steria’s Legal and Business Services division. He is responsible for managing Steria’s extensive range of services and solutions for legal and regulatory organisations throughout the UK.