How to Choose a Legal Process Outsourcing Company
Ten questions that separate an LPO provider who will fit into your workflow from one who will create rework for your associates.
By OASIS Research Writing
- legal process outsourcing companies
- choose lpo provider
- lpo outsourcing
- legal outsourcing companies
- outsource legal work
Most disappointing outsourcing engagements fail for the same reason: the deliverable did not match the firm's template, so an associate rebuilt it. These questions surface that risk before you sign.
1. Can I see a redacted sample of the exact deliverable?
Not a brochure — the artefact. A chronology, a memorandum, a summary. If the format is wrong for you, that is a conversation to have before the matter, not after.
2. Is every factual statement cited to a page?
A chronology entry without a Bates or page reference cannot be verified, and unverifiable work has to be redone.
3. Who reviews the work before it reaches me?
Ask for the number of review rounds and who performs them. A single-pass process shifts quality control onto your associates.
4. Will you work inside my template and citation style?
Bluebook, OSCOLA, Indian conventions or a house style — the provider should adopt yours rather than impose theirs.
5. Who exactly will touch my file?
Named, need-to-know staffing is a reasonable expectation. So is being told when the team changes.
6. What is the confidentiality position?
An agreement should be executed before any file moves. A provider willing to sign your firm's NDA rather than insisting on its own paper is easier to onboard.
7. How are files transferred and retained?
You should nominate the channel — your portal, your secure link, your review platform — and be told the retention and deletion policy in writing.
8. What is the turnaround, and what happens when volume spikes?
Ask for a standard turnaround and a written schedule for anything larger. Ours is three to five working days for a research or chronology packet, with larger sets scheduled in writing.
9. What is excluded?
A provider who lists exclusions is describing a real scope. Legal advice, strategy and the final privilege call should be on that list.
10. What does a revision cost?
One included revision round is a fair baseline. Anything vaguer usually means an invoice argument later.
Our answers to all ten sit across the LPO hub, how we work and security and confidentiality.