Trio of UK firms consider outsourcing in effort to cut costs

Travers Smith, Hammonds and Halliwells look to LPOs to cut costs

Travers Smith, Hammonds and Halliwells are considering a range of outsourcing measures.

The trio are the latest firms interested in cutting costs by sending either legal or back office support work to outsourcing companies.

Travers is considering offshoring some legal work, with the top 50 firm set to go to India later this month to speak to several legal process outsourcers (LPOs) after seeing a pick-up in corporate activity levels.

If it decides to go ahead with the plans, it is intending to carry out a pilot that will initially see both the firm and the outsourcer carry out due diligence on the same projects to compare standards. It will then consider using the outsourcer if it is happy with the standards.

National duo Hammonds and Halliwells are at an earlier stage of debate but both firms are considering outsourcing options for both legal and back office functions, although they have yet to make any decisions about which work, if any, they will eventually send out. Hammonds expects to make a decision within the next year.

Hammonds managing partner Peter Crossley commented: “We are considering outsourcing and are speaking to various people. One has to look at these things across the board. It is about asking how you can provide for your clients in the best possible, most cost-effective way, taking into account technological advances.”

The news comes as growing numbers of leading UK firms look at either legal or business process outsourcing. Pinsent Masons has a litigation support service in co-operation with LPO Exigent in South Africa. Eversheds, meanwhile, is to save up to £2m a year through an outsourcing deal with Exigent, which is expected to lead to the loss of some 95 secretarial jobs in the UK.

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