The legal process outsourcing or LPO industry is enjoying unprecedented growth and quickly expanding acceptance. This is not due to an increase in volume and process drive work but rather due, in part, to the increased range and complexity of the services that offshore providers now proffer.

These reasons for the development of the legal offshore outsourcing industry are pointed out in a recent report published by Morrison and Foerster, an American Lawyer A-List law firm, Global Sourcing Trends in 2011. The creators of the report deduce that "there appears to be consensus that growth will be robust in 2011."

The massive promise of the LPO industry has not gone unobserved. Two major investments in the legal outsourcing industry (both investments cross the $100 million figure) by players outside of the industry evidence that.

SDD Global has been among the top ten legal outsourcing companies in the world for the last three years in a row according to client satisfaction surveys conducted by the Black Book of Outsourcing. We were most recently ranked the number one outsourcing company in India, the U.S., and the U.K. in the 2010 survey. This ranking put us ahead of thousands of IT, BPO and KPO companies, in addition to all other legal process outsourcing companies. Our number one ranking is not something that came to us overnight, but is rather because of our four unique strengths:

1. SDD Global: the only LPO managed by a Western law firm.

It doesn't take a lot of thought for our Western clients to choose SDD Global for their legal services needs given the assurance of quality and accountability they get with us. Experienced U.S. and/or U.K. attorneys or solicitors train and supervise all of our associates. Additionally, our associates themselves are graduates from top Indian law schools, experienced lawyers and/or law professors chosen after a rigorous selection process in which only 1 out of every 900 candidates is successful.

2. SDD Global: focus on high-end legal work

Our focus on areas such as legal research, drafting of motions, briefs, discovery requests and responses, drafting of contracts, handling media business affairs, registration of trademarks, copyrights and patents, processing immigration visas, title and other trademark searches and reports, and a variety of other high-end services offer our clients higher value and has made SDD Global a legal outsourcing pioneer in the high-end arena.

3. SDD Global: the only high-end legal process outsourcing provider in Mysore

Mysore, ranked by the New York Times as #4 on its worldwide list of "31 Places to Go in 2010" is just a couple of hours drive from Bangalore. This beautiful city remains pleasant, green, uncrowded and inexpensive. Unlike the "metro" cities, the cost of office space in Mysore is only 1/43rd the cost of similar space in midtown Manhattan, for example, and that is part of the reason that SDD Global bases its operations in Mysore. The city also has many old and respected colleges and law schools that incubate a large number of stellar potential contributors to the legal and IT fields every year.

4. SDD Global: defies the Stereotype of "Outsourcing" U.S. Jobs

SDD Global's high-end legal outsourcing services result in lowered costs for our Western clients. Because legal services are suddenly affordable, it means more work for the Western lawyers involved in supervision, editing, negotiating, and/or appearing in court. So, essentially, SDD Global creates more legal jobs in the West, and does not cut them. Our services allow U.S. and U.K. clients to increase their profits and growth. For example, our parent law firm has been able to increase the number of attorneys in its ranks and has been able to utilize and grow their talents, because of the first-rate legal support from SDD Global.

Having our headquarters in Mysore, gives SDD Global several advantages, especially in the area of costs. Our clients enjoy considerable savings over what attorneys in the West cost, or even over the cost of other offshore LPOs.

Our client's fees go towards the first-rate legal professionals who provide the client services and not towards our rent. SDD Global's operations are housed in a state-of-the-art, multi-story building that would cost 43 times as much if it were located in a Western country, or even in one of India's "metros."

Our legal outsourcing professionals are not burdened with heavy student loans because the cost of an exceptional legal education in India is not as staggering as the cost of a comparable program in the West. The end result is that we don't have to pay the astonishing salaries that new associates in the West are paid, in part to enable them to pay off their student loans. Again, our client's fees go only towards the services that they require.

In addition to the fact that our professionals are not burdened by student loans, the cost of living in Mysore is so low that we do not have to pay our legal associates the inflated salaries that are necessary just to live in one of the world's big cities. Our clients are paying only as much as necessary to have a talented and motivated work force of offshore legal professionals providing the legal services that the clients need.

So, whether directly or through a progressive law firm, when a client hires SDD Global Solutions, the client pays for top quality, timely, cost efficient legal services, provided by eager, skilled legal professionals, at a location that serves the best interests of the client.

SDD Global’s mission is to change the way the legal services industry works. We aim to see dramatic, positive results in quality, efficiency, turn-around time and cost. SDD Global is beginning to lead this change by example.

We envision law without borders. Old barriers such as geographical distances and different time zones will transform into opportunities.  SDD Global has already begun these pioneering changes based on what our clients actually need. These changes include improved systems for billing and the extension of the “work day” – we work while our clients sleep.

The changes we envision are radical and revolutionary in an industry that until recently has long done things in old ways, held back by tradition, inertia, and a lack of responsiveness. We now will see more deals done, instead of deals killed by overlawyering. We will see cases decided on the merits, rather than on what is expedient or who can afford the legal bills. We also picture the improvement and even strengthening of the Western law firm, the sharpening of bright lawyers’ core skills because of the legal outsourcing support the lawyers and firms receive from SDD Global.

Cultivating new ideas and implementing them carefully and creatively to benefit clients is crucial to the success of any business. This can only happen in an atmosphere of support, respect and encouragement where every individual employee's skills are allowed to grow.

With the world becoming smaller every day, all employees realize that their individual contribution of ideas and actions can have a powerful impact on the company and even the world. Keeping that in mind, every individual, and the company, take their social responsibility and personal responsibility very seriously.

Work-life balance is a myth. Work is a part of life and life is a part of work. Work is not just a means to an end, but rather a calling and a service. Every job, every task, even that which is seemingly small, is valuable and is an opportunity to serve. That is why every job should be done with pride and excellence.

If we apply these beliefs at every level within the company, we can accomplish all that we hope to and more.