Archive for February 2012

Writing in U.S. Style Remains Language Issue for India's LPO Industry..... AND OTHER DISADVANTAGES..... HOW FAR IT IS TRUE

The Disadvantages highlighted in the ARTICLE by LPO Savvy are as follows
1. Cultural Differences
2. Confidentiality
3. Communication Barriers
4. Hidden Costs
5. Geographical Hurdles

It is hard to understand the commercial nature of the disadvantages. Any commercial transaction looks at positives and negatives in terms of finance and work-output. Let us address the point made above...

1. Cultural Differences - Cultural Difference is true but has no commercial value. There are several benefits in this cultural difference from the commercial angle which should also be considered... eg. 6 days working, ability and availability to work for more than 8 hrs a day... (Which is called ---PRODUCTIVITY)

2. Confidentiality - This is true till a large extent but the US based Law Firms have protection to a large extent. If they are working with an India based LPO directly, confidentiality is a major issue which neither can be controlled nor governed. Thus most good LPO have a US based company to give the US Law Firms a sense assurance that I will get the full protection and if I don’t get it I can catch hold of the US based entity.

3. Communication Barriers – Any LPO can in no way replace the lawyers and the attorneys from USA. LPO basically is an institution to provide you with a basic support which will reduce the cost till a large extent. Secondly starting work with an LPO in no way means that ‘I have given it work and it is done’. Consider the LPO institution as your employee where it needs to be trained and then the productivity will increase. Eg. If I draft a deposition summary, I will do it in a set format. Then the lawyer for whom I have made it should see it and then advise me on his way of drafting. That is how the LPO will know what and how the attorney wants the deposition to be. LPO is just your EMPLOYEE whose only aim is to learn from you and provide you with the best result

4. Hidden Cost – This issue is something I have not heard off before. Even this issue exist the US based law firms can follow the footsteps of an IT outsourcing industry wherein a PoC is done, requirements captured, times and rate fixed beforehand. Only problem here is that turnaround time for LPO projects is quite short. Still if the firm develops an understanding with the LPO this problem can be solved. LPO wants to work and develop a everlasting relationship, thus if the US based firm has a problem with the rate, time, process etc. it should bring the same forward in the same or the next project.

5. Geographical Hurdles- The issue of data lost is mentioned in the confidentiality point above. As regarding travelling is not a major issue. If a law firm is saving around $500,000 per year per person spending $8,000 per person per visit is not much. Secondly this Geographical difference gives the US based firms option of 24 hrs working productivity.

It is true there are some differences but if the US based firms are ready solutions to anything is possible.

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Native indian lawyers to help from LPO boom

India might be considered to be a rising field right up until now also but legalised approach outsourcing tools or LPOs is expected to retrieve approximately Usd20 zillion by 2015. The most significant operating allows for the achievements legislation institutions is that often, it takes up most of the 15,000 legislation graduate students which The indian subcontinent makes each and every year.

About 700 Native indian solicitors are predicted by Nasscom that are at present receiving the LPO boom advantage, debating and revealing the shining fallouts of globalization relatives arguments, patents leisure, and local pharmacy. At Native indian law offices, Gurgaon, Noida, Bangalore and Mumbai, the legal requirements free skype download of numerous MNCs in the states and The eu are contracted out.

It is somebody in charge of that office meeting brought up law and legal structure, outlined by US-structured Center for U . s . and Global and Culture of Native indian Legal Firms (SILF) office meeting.

Legal outsourcing tools to The indian subcontinent initiated a policy of to be a very low-stop get the job done which normally incorporated transcription. But inspire heritage. Now, like other BPO (Organization Method Outsourced workers) pursuits, Indias legalised companies are cost-effective and useful far too. So, everything from clair request creating, legalised research, jdownloader before-lawsuit certification, advising purchasers, inspecting selected records, creating computer software accreditation contracts to creating supply settlement will be contracted out to The indian subcontinent.

Currently, there are all over 100 small and big law offices in The indian subcontinent which concentrate on function their potential customers in the states, Britain along with European countries.

Indian solicitors make pleadings prepared and supply returning-up assistance for lawsuit-connected research. Moreover, they check out clair purposes.

As far as competence is regarded as, opony Native indian solicitors work out less costly for the unfamiliar corporation to get it done with a corporation in The indian subcontinent can compare to a US lawyer. The Help Foreign trade Marketing Authority, put in place by way of the Nation Secretary of state for Business, is likewise evaluating various the process of LPOs.

During a few-day time office meeting that was mutually organized, protection subject was outlined underneath the aegis on the Indo-U . s . Step of Business the concern was addressed about defending the discretion terms

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LPO/Jurowski, Royal Festival Hall in London

Can it really be only 75 years since the death of Karol Szymanowski? So infused with exotic mysticism is the Polish composer’s music that it seems to speak of a world far further removed in time and place – a Dionysiac realm where the intellect gives way to the senses or the far-away Orient of the Arabian Nights.

There will be a fair amount of Szymanowski played in London this year, the various events being promoted under the general umbrella of the Polska Music programme of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. Pierre Boulez, a late (and unlikely) convert to Szymanowski’s music, will be conducting a pair of concerts at the Barbican, and a blazing start was made on Wednesday when Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with every player called in for the occasion, performed the Symphony No 3.

Opulent, heady, excessive, the symphony is Szymanowski at the peak of his powers. The work bears the title “The Song of the Night” and is a choral setting, with tenor solo, of a poem by the 13th-century Persian mystic Jalal ad-Din Rumi. “Venus swims in golden rain through this night!” proclaims the text and Szymanowski responds with music of sensual ecstasy – no obvious melodies as such, but an atmosphere soaked in luxuriant beauty, overlaid by tinkling percussion and celesta.

Many later composers have sought to go down this route where orchestral texture takes precedence over musical content, but few have had Szymanowski’s ear or his discipline. It is surprising how much of the time the orchestra is sparingly used, and when he does pile on the full forces, with extra brass and organ, the effect here under Jurowski’s precise direction was suitably rapturous. Jeremy Ovenden was the lyrical soloist and the London Philharmonic Choir wrestled, not always successfully, with Szymanowski’s sensual harmonies.

Zemlinsky’s Psalm 23, composed a few years earlier, sounded very plain by comparison. Perhaps Brahms’s Violin Concerto would have done too, had it not been for the quick-witted, spontaneous playing of Joshua Bell. Brahms ideally requires a violin sound of more richness than Bell offers – Jurowski and the LPO did well to complement his lighter, precise style – but phrase after phrase was stamped with individuality, and much was memorable.

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LPO reimagines Stravinsky's 'Firebird' in family-friendly pair of concerts

Hip, Hispanic performance artists rarely appear onstage at classical music events, especially those directed toward children. But somehow, it’s no surprise that the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra has tapped Jose Torres Tama as a narrator for a pair of Family Concerts on Sunday.

Louisiana Philharmonic OrchestraMollie Pate blows her French horn and lets little ones feel the vibration that the music makes before a recent Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra family concert. The LPO sets up musician stations before each family concert so that children can get a close-up view of the instruments and meet the musicians.
After all, this is the vibrant young orchestra that costumed for a Halloween Harry Potter concert in 2011, often invites children to sit onstage at youth concerts, and usually begins those shows with a pre-concert musical “petting zoo” during which children can meet orchestral players and get a close look at the instruments.

Tama fits right in with this bunch. A patriarch of the New Orleans avant-garde, Tama has honed his theatrical skills in front of some tough audiences, whether touring internationally with his one-man multimedia shows, or keeping his two sons, ages 5 and 2, entertained on the drive from Marigny to an Uptown nursery school.

With the LPO, he will narrate Stravinsky’s “Firebird” — in a version that recasts the old Russian storyline and moves it to a swamp setting. He’ll be taking his cues from LPO music director Carlos Miguel Prieto who will lead the orchestra in an English version at 2:30 p.m. and a Spanish account at 4 p.m.

“I’m thrilled to be appearing alongside Prieto. I’ve never seen a conductor so passionate, so physically involved in the music,” Tama said. “With him, I won’t be afraid to be animated, to give all the characters different voices and use what I know from the theater.”

In keeping with the theme, “Firebird and other creatures,” the LPO will round out it’s program with such popular works as Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee.” Lagniappe comes from Audubon Insectarium’s Bug mobile which will display live specimens outside the concert hall at Jesuit High School.

“Family concerts are about doing fun things together, and we try to keep them as interactive as possible,” said LPO managing director Babs Mollere. “For one thing, there is always a lot of back-and-forth conversation between Carlos and the audience. And the pre-concert opportunities to meet the musicians are pretty special, too.

"This past Fall, at the Potter show, one of our trombonists let kids play a duet with him on one instrument: He blew and the children got to move the slide and could feel the instrument vibrate.”

Mollere compares the mood of the family concerts to the LPO’s popular outdoor shows in area parks.

“The atmosphere is relaxed, the music is familiar, and the orchestra plays with the same energy and commitment they bring to every show,” she said. “This kind of programming also reflects the outlook of the orchestra members, who don’t see themselves as a stuffy alternative to New Orleans culture.

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CPA Global restructures LPO biz as India headcounts plummet ahead of $1.45bn sale

India-based headcount in the general LPO business—or legal service outsourcing (LSO) as CPA describes it—had dropped from around 130 to less than 80 in 2011, according to several ex-CPA employees.

Anand Sharma, the firm’s chief financial officer and head of LSO and management services, said there was no “planned reduction”, but only a “bench reduction” of no more than 20%.

In March, Sharma had told industry website Legally India that CPA was looking to increase its general LSO business of around 400 staff by around 100% year-on-year.

Around 250 employees in the unit, primarily focusing on onshore litigation support, were based in the US, while around 150 were in India doing mostly contracts and legal research work, he said.

General legal outsourcing made up roughly 20% of CPA’s total work in March, while another outsourcing unit focused on IP-related work. Those two units were merged in December, Sharma added. The two largest business segments at CPA are IP portfolio management and the supply of IP industry-specific software.

“When everybody saw the market to be emerging very fast and very, very speedily in the LSO space, we all started investing in capacity, management and people in advance of the growth coming our way,” said Sharma. “(But) the recession had taken away the demand and supply that started a reduction in the LSO business.”

India-based legal work, especially in research and contract drafting, has decreased, Sharma said, and added that demand for onshore US-based litigation support outsourcing has increased.

“It created a situation where you were expecting a high growth (in offshore LSO) and not really seeing it,” he said.

Leah Cooper (pictured), who was responsible for a major legal outsourcing contract with CPA when she was a managing attorney at Australian miner Rio Tinto Group, had joined the company full time amid much press attention in February 2010, as head of LSO. In November 2011, she left more quietly.

“She did a great job bringing us to the limelight from a nascent stage (in the LPO business) to where it’s become a great opportunity,” said Sharma, adding that Cooper had left for family reasons. Cooper did not respond to email seeking comment.

UK-based Carol Unwin, chief operating officer of the LSO business, left in January to join as director of global outsourcing services at Logica. She was unreachable for comment, but Sharma said her departure was unrelated to the new business structure or the reduction in LSO work.

“We see a solid business in this, it is just a matter of time and it will be a very significant part of CPA’s growth,” said Sharma. “It’s an idea whose time has come now—maybe we were slightly ahead of the market.”

Cinven announced on 18 January that it would buy all of CPA.

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Urgent Openings In Leading International Bpo

Role: Technical Support Executive ( Voice)
Experience: 0 To 1 Years

Job location: Kolkata
Basic/UG qualification: Any Graduate
PG Qualification: Post Graduation Not Required
Key skills: BPO
Walkin date: Mon 13 Feb, 2012 To Tue 28 Feb, 2012
Venue: KOLKATA
No. of vacancies: 10+
Posted by: Placement Consultant
Company name: SUNSHINE CONSULTANCY SERVICES
Contact person: CHITRALEKHA BASAK

View Phone NumberLandline:  +91-33-801393 8631 Please inform me that you have seen my number on Click.in View similar adsTechnical Support Executive ( voice) jobs for freshers in Kolkata
Technical Support Executive ( voice) jobs in Kolkata
Call center & BPO jobs in Kolkata
 Description
Dear Cadidate,
ARJUN GROUP HIRING NOW !!! ( FOR full Time & part time)Basis
CUSTOMER SUPPORT ASSOCIATED AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT ASSOCIATES FOR OUR IT SALES AND SUPPORT DIVISION Situated in Salt Lake Sec V.
Eligibility:Class 12 to MBA
Fresher’s / graduates / diploma holders / polytechnic or equivalent with basic computer operating knowledge
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Basic computer knowledge
Exp-0- 2 years
(DAY SHIFT)-12P.M till 9 P.M
(Night Shift)-9.30P.M till 6.30A.M
Weekly Off-2 days in a week (Saturday, Sunday)
Salary- For Day Shift( Full Time) (salary 5250/- for Part Time) Candidte
Rs 10,500/- per month(Fresher)
Rs 15,500/- per month(Experience)
For Night shift- Add 1000/-rs for experience & Fresher both.
Job Profile:-
Candidate will be responsible for handling outbound calls.
Candidate should have good presentation skills.
Candidate should have a positive attitude & should be Goal oriented.
Determined & Passionate
Charismatic & Enthusiastic personality
Excellent conversational and customer service skills
Should be Self motivator.
Eye Catcher :
Work only 5 days a week ( Sat- Sun Off )
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Congenial atmosphere to work with Lucrative Incentive.
Interested candidates kindly send your cv's at responsehr.scs@gmail.com Respond urgently or call
9051210434 / 8013938631 for telephonic round.
Regards,
Chiralekha Basak Company website:-arjuninc.com arjungroupofindustries.com

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HCL BPO to close down Ireland arm, cull 425 jobs

HCL BPO Services plans to shutter its centre in Armagh in Northern Ireland and trim the workforce at its operations in Belfast which could impact up to 425 jobs.

The restructuring plan comes at a time when many entities are cutting down on costs amid tough economic conditions. HCL BPO Services (Northern Ireland) has announced a 90- day consultation period on the proposals to close contact centre in Armagh and to reduce employment at the Belfast centre.

The proposals could result in up to 425 people being put at risk of redundancy, including 170 in Armagh, it said. “In the current economic conditions, some clients were optimising resources and consolidating in-house,” it said.

Even though 425 people are likely to be impacted by these plans, the company expects to find alternative employment for around 40 per cent of them during the course of the consultation period.

Northern Ireland is HCL BPO’s Centre of Excellence in Customer Experience Management, especially for near-shore customers in the region for clients in sectors like financial services and utilities.

HCL BPO said it would continue to work for clients in the region as “normal”, adding that it will keep all customers informed of the proposed moves.

The entity had a workforce of 11,021 employees as on December 31, 2011

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IT-BPO sector will explore new geographies, verticals

 Mr Rajendra S. Pawar, head person of Nasscom (National Association of Software and Services Companies) and NIIT assembly, is an optimist to the centre. Despite headwinds globally, he strongly feels that the Indian IT-BPO industry has the bandwidth and depth to reach the goal of $225 billion by 2020. Excerpts from an interaction with him at the Nasscom authority Forum.

From very high development rates of over 20 per cent, the IT-BPO commerce is forecasting a CAGR of 13 per cent for the decade. Is it because of slowdown?

The industry had seen a CAGR of 17 per cent throughout the five-year time span of 2007-12 regardless of turmoil in the US and in European amalgamation. For the next eight years, we are forecasting a CAGR of 13 per cent to get to the aimed at $225 billion by 2020 from $101-billion we achieved this year.

The high development rates we accomplished in the early stages were mostly due to the lower groundwork. As we matured and attain a critical number of $100 billion, it may not be likely to sustain that kind of development rates. lesser businesses that have begun their procedures still could do that. But general, we are looking at 13 per cent.

Where is this added $125 billion going to arrive from? Which are the new markets the Indian IT-BPO commerce is looking at?

We anticipate that about 80 per cent of all incremental enterprise from now and 2020 would be approaching from new localities – from new geographies, new verticals and from new enterprise forms such as cloud-based offerings.

Indian businesses are serving some 70 nations now. Though most of incomes are coming from 10-15 nations, there are a alallotmentment of possibilities unfastening up in the residual nations.

We have good hedging on that as more and more countries are adopting technological answers. The slice and dice of global markets are changing.

If you glimpse, development of enterprise in appearing markets is 1.4 times that of mature geographies. This went up to $7 billion this year from $6 billion last year as functioning hubs globally went up to 560 from 520.

Who are going to drive this development?

As of now, 95 per cent of industry's incomes are coming from 1,300 businesses in the association. This, although, is going to change. What you are glimpsing from out-of-doors is a homogeneous, monolithic industry. But those seeing from inside are witnessing a qualitative, large-scale change.

lesser businesses and fledgling start-ups are taking origins. As of now, they contribute just $2 billion in the general kitty of $100 billion. It is just a part. These are going to make a huge impact as we move ahead to 2020. Their assistance would be much higher. This segment will need to contribute at least a quarter of the industry's incomes by 2020.

What is the outlook for this financial year?

We have cautiously pegged development rate at 11-14 per cent for 2012-13. But we are assured of doing better in the direction of the end of the year. We will revisit and reconsider this number in October as we glimpse the US finances getting better and domestic market improving sharply. There is a lot of headroom for development as our general dimensions in the global IT market is much larger.

To cite some figures, household market has increase two-fold to Rs 1,53,300 crore in 2011-12 from Rs 81,300 crore in 2008. The good report is that domestic demand for IT services comprised 38 per cent of this and hardware chipping in with 40 per cent.

On outlook of less supplements to workforce…

The commerce supplemented 2.30 lakh people last year. But we are forecasting only 2 lakh inductions this year. possibly because of the smaller growth rate we forecast for the industry. But what we should gaze at is a qualitative underlying change that is occurrence. little and large-scale businesses from India are buying firms abroad. We are buying because we are aspiring to offer newer worth propositions by obtaining high value workforce there.

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Sri Lanka, ideal venue for LPO: ICTA CEO

According to Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) Chief Executive Officer  Reshan Dewapura Sri Lanka is ideally suited as a venue for legal process outsourcing  (LPO). 
Dewapura said so while participating at the inauguration of ‘Sri Lanka’s First Outsourcing Conference, with a focus on LPO’ held at Cinnamon Grand, Colombo recently.
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka, (BASL) in collaboration with the International Association of Young Lawyers (Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats) (AIJA) held the international conference in partnership with ICTA.

“Events like this greatly help Sri Lanka  become  the ideal  IT/BPO destination and   ICTA is greatly honoured to be the Strategic Partner, at this significant event”, Dewapura added.
BASL President Shibly Aziz, PC who participated in the conference said: “This Conference on the theme ‘Outsourcing versus Restructuring – Challenges in international Business Structures,’ will go a long way in   creating awareness about Sri Lanka as a preferred destination of choice for LPO. “The AIJA with the active support of ICTA approached us wanting to have an international conference to popularise Sri Lanka as an outsourcing hub for legal services and we grabbed the opportunity. Thanks to this initiative, not only the lawyers but also the business people and the Government  will benefit from the inflow of foreign exchange”.
Addressing the conference  AIJA President Tanja Jussila, pointed out  the value of joining  the AIJA -1.Access to cutting edge Continued Legal Education-credited seminars at attractive price; (2) meeting professionals from all over the world and valuable to one’s own practice; (3) meeting leading and would-be leading lawyers, in-house counsels, bar leaders etc. face-to-face, based on personal knowledge.  
The Finnish Waselius and Wist partner said that AIJA founded 50 years ago (1962)  with a current active membership of more than 3000, was the only global association devoted to lawyers and in-house counsels aged 45 and younger. “We are recognized as the voice of the next generation of lawyers and work closely with sister organizations, bars and public institutions.” Jussila added. 
AIJA provides a forum for young lawyers, readily to adapt to trends including technological advances while maintaining the traditional hallmarks of the legal profession. It is the largest international association of young lawyers in the world aimed to promote professional cooperation and friendship among young career-building legal professionals. AIJA is a bilingual non-profit association, (www.aija.org)

Sri Lanka’s triple strength – skilled legal resources, English, competitive rates
During his address ICTA CEO Reshan Dewapura explaining Sri Lanka’s suitability for LPO mainly on three plus points said: “ Sri Lanka is ideally suited as a venue for legal process outsourcing for several reasons. The main being the availability of highly skilled legal resources in this country, educated in the traditions of common law and benefitting from the hybrid system such as Roman Dutch Law inherent in our country. This, combined with the overall advantages of competitive rates and low attrition contributes greatly to Sri Lanka’s attractiveness for LPO.   

“There is a significant number of young English educated legal professionals, passing out from many institutions in Sri Lanka, who can be well engaged in this activity. These professionals will have the opportunity to further familiarize themselves and be engaged with, legal practices and processes of international jurisdictions such as the US and the EU. This in turn will provide a platform for international legal activity to take off on a much bigger scale, and create an echo system, for the improvement of commercial law in general, in this country. All this will no doubt contribute to our target of a Knowledge Hub”, ICTA CEO said succinctly exposing Sri Lanka’s suitability as an ideal venue for LPO. 

Sri Lanka reputed as a BPO destination
“Although we need to be cautious in fixing these targets, as much of this is dependent on the economic circumstances in other countries, looking at our past growth, and other enabling activities that we are implementing in the ICT sector, we feel these are certainly achievable. Sri Lanka has already earned a great reputation as a BPO destination. AT Kearney, Gartner, Tholons Global Services have all given due recognition to Sri Lanaka in their most recent surveys. More and more countries are looking to Sri Lanka for BPO opportunities, and hence the targets mentioned earlier are very realistic.
Vision to make optimum benefits reach people
Stressing the national vision to make the optimum benefits of  ICT  accrue to the people and transform the country as a Dynamic Global Hub including Knowledge Hub, ICTA CEO said: “Our vision is to take the benefits of ICT to everyone, and use ICT as a tool to drive development. We aim to drive ICT to every growth sector in this country, and truly enable them, to maximise their opportunities, with the use of these new technologies. 

“As a country, in this era where Sri Lanka is moving steadily towards Economic Development, the Government is looking to transform the country into a Dynamic Global Hub in multiple sectors. One of the key areas among these, is the creation of a Knowledge Hub. It is no secret, that the growth of the ICT/BPO sector, will be a huge contributing factor to this effort.
“Both in the development of the Business Process Outsourcing industry, and in the creation or in the transformation of Sri Lanka to a Knowledge Hub, the KPO (or the Knowledge Process Outsourcing) activity will take centre stage, and is an area that great emphasis and focus has been placed on. Looking at the high-end nature of the work, the proficiency of the workforce, and the well developed and robust infrastructure, this is an area, which ideally fits into the “Niche” categorisation of Sri Lanka in this sector. 
Strides towards Knowledge Hub 

Pointing out to the great strides made by Sri Lanka towards the  Knowledge Hub state ICTA CEO said: “There are a number of growth pillars in the KPO industry that have been identified, especially as areas of “niche” focus for Sri Lanka. FAO (Financial and Accounting Out-Sourcing), where Sri Lanka has already earned a name as a center of Excellence, Engineering Process Outsourcing, Excellence in Software products, especially in the Telecommunications and Finance sectors, are some among many in this area. Last but not least, and coming to the fore, more and more in the recent past, is LPO (Legal Process Outsourcing).

Five-year achievements
Giving a view of Sri Lanka’s achievements during the past five years in the IT/BPO  sector in financial terms the ICTA CEO said: “The Sri Lankan IT/BPO Industry has grown tremendously in the last five years. In terms of export revenue, it has moved from a mere USD 60m to a staggering USD 450m industry, and is now the 5th largest foreign exchange earner in the country. The future target for this industry is to reach USD 1 billion by 2015 and USD 2 billion by 2020, and at some point become the largest foreign exchange earner for the country. 

Combined effort
“Looking at ICT development in general, I need to state that, driving the ICT/BPO industry growth, is something that is not done in isolation. It is part of a much wider initiative, where, the success of all components, are intrinsically linked together. This initiative, as most of you are aware is known as the e-Sri Lanka Development programme, the Government’s National e-development agenda, implemented by the ICTA. The vision of taking the dividends of ICT, to every citizen in every village, every business and transforming the way Government works, is driven by a number of programmes. 
“Developing the ICT Infrastructure, Developing the ICT HR skills, increasing the ICT literacy, automating and transforming governments processes, creating the enabling environment and leadership for ICT growth are some of them. Success and accomplishments in all these areas have no doubt contributed and will contribute to the progress of the ICT/BPO industry in the future as well. That is the synergistic nature of the forces of ICT.      

“What we need is a similar synergistic effort from all stake-holders engaged in this BPO industry, in this case specifically in the area of LPO, to grow this sector, and ensure we reach our targets and goals. The ICT Agency is fully committed, as it did in the past, to ensure that the next five year ICT Development plan is successfully implemented, and through that further contribute to the growth of the ICT/BPO industry in Sri Lanka”.   

First of many events
“In conclusion, I wish to congratulate, the Legal Solutions Forum, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, and the International Association of Young Lawyers, for organising this conference, and thank them for inviting ICTA to partner with them, which as I mentioned, we are delighted to do. I hope that this will be a productive and enriching conference for all, and that it will be the first of many events in this sector, throughout our journey to be a knowledge hub in the region”.
The two-day conference was tailor-made with keynote  presentations and panel discussions and question and answer sessions on timely topics.    Keynote addresses themed “Outsourcing vs. Restructuring”, “Outsourcing to Asia: Goals, Choices and Experiences” and  “Data Protection and ICT related Issues when outsourcing to London, Larnaka and Sri Lanka – Are all the same?”, were presented respectively by  India Bangalore Accuenture Chairman Avinash Vashista, and Asia, Texas Instruments Senior Counsel Gaurav Jabulee and ICTA  Programme Director / Legal Advisor Jayantha Fernando. 

Caption 1
AIJA President Tanja Jussila,  President’s Counsel BASL President and Legal Solutions Forum Co-Chair Shibly Aziz, ICTA CEO Reshan Dewapura and SLASSCOM Chairman Sujiva Dewaraja  
Caption 2
ICTA CEO Reshan Dewapura addressing the conference

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Sri Lankan ideal ground for LPO

The Sri Lanka’s Legal fraternity is to turn a new section in the sector, by hosting the first-ever worldwide conference, concentrated on lawful method Outsourcing (LPO) themed “Outsourcing vs Restructuring”.

Outsourcing good option

“I think outsourcing is a very good option in alignment to accelerate the paid work rate but this wouldn’t be very simple as we talk. We should have the necessary backdrop with the ample people taught to take up this dispute. If the mindset of the people can take up this change, especially the juvenile upcoming lawyers will make this process a success,” Precedent Partner of Nithya Partners, Arittha Wickramanayake added.

Sri Lanka should address a alallotmentment of components before they step into the LPO sector as some key components like employed hours and vacations which might convey an influence up to a certain span. But Sri Lanka is an island that is blessed with a good literacy rate and is opposite a drastically improving economy and a very effective technology scheme and communication scheme but desires fast investments due to the dynamic market.

As we understand the western nations don’t have a sustainable form; therefore they outsource their work due to the current attenuating factors. Outsourcing is finished not solely as a cost chopping assess; but finished occasionally to hold with the tendency. More than chopping charges outsourcing has more benefits. Since there is a foremost demand for outsourcing businesses would do their best to sustain the believe acquired by them over the years and conceive a good trademark inside the outsourcing arena which is flexible and reduces the risk up to an span.

Now we are dwelling in a world apprehended up in globalization, with the dynamic law firms and even lawyers facing a gigantic urgent situation and are compelled to do cost chopping due to litigants no longer compelled to seek the aid of solicitors or firm since most information were broadly available in the internet.

Sri Lanka is well known for its excellence in the learning part with quite a lot of Sri Lankans possessing globalised qualifications from recognized institutions and enterprises are not reluctant to outsource their business activities—Sri Lanka having rather a number of CIMA trained persons is a case in point.

But before entering the LPO commerce Sri Lanka should address if they can maintain a good value and the benchmark as it will make a gigantic influence on Sri Lanka’s status over the outsourcing industry, thus should meet some persons who are in this field with know-how and have a good general reconsider.

Wickramanayake further asserted there were a lot of feminine solicitors who perform regulation but regrettably they did this part time which is a difficulty faced globally.

“Sri Lanka is forced to meet the trials specially the need of employment. We can’t state that our country is under confrontation anymore.”

Off-shoring

The concept of off-shoring or outsourcing in Sri Lanka might have been well known with sectors like accounting and finance. although LPO means searching lawful answers or trained staff to do research by legal companies or other businesses.

The notion presented by John Wilson who is the issue of communicate in Sri Lanka for AIJA, was explored at the seminar. professionals who have been in business attached to or centralised on LPO shared their concepts. One of the professionals, Avinash Vashistha, asserted that Sri Lanka has the trained staff for LPO.

The chairman and organising controller of Accenture India, Vashistha emphasized the need for taught workforce in Sri Lanka for larger businesses to come and outsource.

Mean while the head person and the Managing controller of Accenture-India, Avinash Vashistha elaborated that the company earlier had designs to “venture into Sri Lanka during the war period because the homeland was accomplishing well; but didn’t want to take a risk as it could have affected our purchasers due to the anxious state of activities. For a large-scale company like Accenture requires at smallest a taught workforce of 2,000 in order to start operations.”

Accenture has an paid work groundwork of 240,000. We actually have 70,000 personnel while in the USA there are 30,000 workers. Accenture looks for talent and since Sri Lanka is now experiencing peace we are looking ahead to come into Sri Lanka and start procedures. Sri Lanka has the best amenities and should train its people to take up the trials.

Highlighting the importance of the LPO industry he said that the part was worth about a trillion dollars. He noted that 15% of this amount were channeled to destinations like India and Latin America.

India as an demonstration
Raja Sujith an Indian lawyer and a colleague of Majmudar and business said that the LPO commerce in India contributed about 88 billion dollars to the country’s annual income and supplied direct employment to about 2.5 million employees.

Saurabh Malhotra an attorney-at-law from India emphasised that some States in India support the personal businesses to develop the LPO commerce. He documented that the commerce can be run only with accomplished and trained workforce and that several provincial administration expanded their support to train and educate young scholars to cater to the demand from the LPO industry.

He also documented that LPO has endowed even females to contribute dynamically to the workforce due to the flexible working hours. although he noted that the work regulations in India too were on a method of seeing reforms to provide more security and space for women to enlist in business like legal outsourcing.

The international solicitor

The need for Sri Lankan solicitors to believe and proceed globally was a issue that was certainly emphasised at the seminar. Arittha Wickramanayake, attorney-at-law and a colleague in a premier law firm taking part in the section discussions noted that one of the foremost drawbacks for a Sri Lanka advocate was the detail that the knowledge he received was outdated.

He called for foremost restructures in the learning system and advised that rather than of trashing money in for tendering for commonwealth sport Sri Lanka should be buying into on building revised and value oriented informative institutions.

“Fortunately there are a alallotmentment of youngsters who overtake out from private organisations with globally recognized regulation qualifications and their competency levels are high. But this is not the case always because the syllabus at the Law school has not been updated in over a 100 years. When the personally educated students are discovering the most updated versions of regulation, the Law school students are revising material that is really outdated. Any law scholar passing out is unable to create his own study report due to the need of knowledge. This has to be addressed through informative reforms,” he ascribed.

He documented that if the Sri Lanka solicitor is not competent sufficient and well versed with ICT he will be left behind in the rush. “We can be big fish in a little pond but if we tap the international market we need to have the skills to contend in those markets and data expertise is one crucial device. Otherwise we are no one in the international picture.” he said.

LPO for Sri Lanka

Wickramanayake claimed that if Sri Lanka was to gain a footing in the LPO market several regulation restructures had to arrive — and that too immediately. He noted that improvements in the data defence regulations, privacy regulations, taxations laws required to be on par with worldwide regulations to attract foreign enterprise.

He furthermore sharp out that since the younger lifetime owned globally acknowledged qualifications, there would definitely be positive impact for LPO to bloom in Sri Lanka. “Earlier with the political instability in our homeland we couldn’t do much. every person looked at us with a stigma. But this is the time to get relieve of the stigma of ‘being a Sri Lankan’,” he said.

e added that due to the expanding feminization of the lawful occupation more and more females in Sri Lanka can dynamically assist to the economy. He noted that cultural obstacles in Sri Lanka should not be made a barricade as it is rather a problem with the mindset.

The Indian attorneys too emphasized the need to conceive outcome oriented and presentation propelled environment to be more comparable in the LPO industry.

The foreign delegates who addressed the seminar commended Sri Lanka for protecting the 19th notch in outsourcing. All of them conveyed positive notions about LPO being here in Sri Lanka but emphasized that Sri Lanka should have the right mind-set and the aptitude for the development of LPO.

LPO and ICT

Sri Lanka’s legal infrastructure in data connection expertise (ICT) is globally matching though the speed of enforceability has to be advanced said Jayantha Fernando, Director and lawful Advisor of ICTA.

The second day of the seminar “Outsourcing vs Restructuring” commenced with the insights provided by Fernando on the expansion of the ICT industry and development in the legal arena.

throughout the panel discussion which was followed by his presentation Fernando documented that the Criminal enquiries Department was ‘overwhelmed’ by the situations that have arrive up regarding violations of diverse ICT regulations. He noted that there were about 196 complaints actually which were in attachment with offences extending from credit card deception to cyber space regulations violations. He went on to say that so far two cases have been mentioned for indictments.

although Fernando documented that Sri Lanka had graduated from e-governance to m-governance where most transactions were presented through wireless phones. While emphasizing the significance of ICT to legal method outsourcing, he noted that the Sri Lanka was in the forefront of the telecom part when compared to other south Asian countries and have even organised to get into international catalogues.

Sri Lanka is one of the first nations in south Asia to liberalize the telecom sector, according to Fernando. He said mobile penetration was round 87-89% and that Sri Lanka experienced a yearly growth in the workforce in the ICT part by 30%.

Fernando arrogantly accepted that Sri Lankan businesses were responsible for achievements like coming up with the World’s First virtual agency submission, the World’s first Bluetooth endowed PDA platform. Fernando supplemented that last year the London Stock Exchange got an automated selling programs which was conceived by a Sri Lankan business.

Explaining in length about the legislation carrying the ICT commerce in the pattern of guidelines to command misuse and violations. He brought out demonstrations like the Arbitration Act, the thoughtful house Act etc.

interpreting the development that has taken location in the ICT part, Fernando said that the commerce had grown by about 40% and in 2010 the income exceeded Rs. 346 million. He disclosed that that number of people who belongs to wireless teletelephones in Sri Lanka exceeded the number of persons who belongs to a toothbrush.

wireless transactions in Sri Lanka has superseded the borrowing business business card part in Sri Lanka as in most other south Asian countries.

Fernando documented the land assess case which came to the High Court where High Court judge K.T. Chitrasiri had directed that short message service routinely known as SMS was admissible in court as clues, as one of the numerous positive development in the ICT sector in terms of recognitions and awareness.

He stressed that Sri Lanka was world’s biggest capita “apache” contributor and that Sri Lanka had made a fast transition from an data finances to a knowledge finances. The ICT part is the fifth income earner for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has protected the 66th position in the Network Readiness catalogue and retains the 43rd place in its sub index which recorded peak nations that have evolved laws in the ICT sector.

meantime Ranel Wijesinghe, an unaligned advisor who spoke at the section discussions emphasized that Sri Lanka had to expedite the method of enforcing the law-relating to ICT and documented that businesses should exercise vigilance and diligence surpassing the customary method to apprehend fraudulent enterprises that try to enter outsourcing.

Way-forward for Sri Lanka’s budding solicitors

Even though the concept is relatively new to Sri Lanka, it is a major foreign exchange earner in countries like India, Latin America and Philippines. constituents from numerous legal groups, solicitors, non- solicitors and involved stakeholders were present at the seminar.

Speaking to Ceylon FT Aziz documented that he believed the concept of legal method outsourcing (LPO) would be a way ahead for Sri Lanka’s budding solicitors. When asked about why legal process is important to Sri Lanka, he noted that LPO will assist the solicitors to broaden their horizons in the occupations. Aziz further documented that LPO will be a foreign exchange earner for the homeland if the LPO commerce is evolved in Sri Lanka.”

Sri Lankan regulation professionals have the advantage of employed in a jurisdiction which is leveraged by both Common Law and Roman Dutch Law and numerous of our lawyers have foreign qualifications. thus this is an perfect opportunity to encourage Sri Lanka as an perfect destination for LPO” he said.

meantime Tanja Jussila leader of AIJA sharing her ideas with Ceylon FT noted that since Sri Lanka solicitors had the benefit of a good command of English and possess globally identified qualifications, LPO will be a fine ground for them to make international associates. From a lawyer’s issue of outlook she documented that Sri Lankan lawyers will be able to share concepts with worldwide lawful professionals and to have a international experience to location Sri Lanka in a recognized place amidst lawful experts. (Ceylon Today Online)

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Paralegals at risk as LPO spreads

Paralegals are staring down the barrel of evolving less relevant as another foremost regulation firm goes into into an arrangement with legal method outsourcing (LPO) providers.

Corrs sleeping rooms Westgarth broadcast last week that it has appointed Integreon and Exigent to its newly-formed LPO section.

The move comes after Mallesons Stephen Jaques marked an LPO agreement with India-based Integreon in October last year, while Blake Dawson has an affirmation with Exigent, based in South Africa.

Corrs colleague James Whittaker notified Lawyers every week that the agreement will strengthen the firm’s ability to offer “flexible, client-focused solutions” without influencing the firm’s graduate intake in the short to medium period.

He did state, although, that paralegals may be affected, as jobs such as breakthrough, article review and due diligence are dispatched offshore.

“The number of graduate boasts … won’t be swayed, but it may sway paralegal numbers,” he said. “That is where you would probably see the immediate [impact].”

Whittaker said the firm bought into six months in a rigorous assortment process in which many LPO providers were analyzed.

“It was a competitive method. We begun by looking at all of the LPO providers that we knew were operative in the market, both here and overseas. We went through a method of doing a paper-based prequalification, which produced in a number of them being knocked out,” he said. “Ultimately, we determined to interview a twosome, and Integreon and Exigent emerged as favoured suppliers.”

Whittaker said the conclusion to go in into an arrangement with more than one LPO provider serves two prime purposes, one of which is to avoid promise confrontation of interest issues.

“The truth is that there is a move towards consolidation in the LPO world,” he said. “If you’ve only got one LPO provider on your publications, what do you do if they are acting for or aiding a purchaser or firm whose concerns are harmful to your client’s concerns? That is what appeared during our due diligence method. It was quite likely that that would occur.”

regardless of the option of establishing so-called Chinese walls inside LPO firms as a means of avoiding conflicts of interest, Whittaker said this was simply unsatisfactory.

“We weren’t at all comfortable with the idea of having Chinese walls inside LPOs, easily because they are not inside our immediate control,” he said. “We can have contracts and we can have all sorts of principles and procedures in place, and they can be nearly monitored, but, finally, it is not certain thing we considered clients would find attractive.”

Whittaker said the second cause for taking up a section is that having at least two companies vying for work conceives comparable tensions, which will finally advantage the client.

“We are going to put each of them in front of purchasers as necessary, so when purchasers are looking for LPO we can present two distinct models,” he states. “We’ll also be collaborating with them, so we are anticipating that, as part of the placement, the LPOs themselves will arrive to us with possibilities which are client driven.”

regardless of Corrs’ decision to formally take up LPO, Whittaker said the move was only partially propelled by purchaser demand.

“We are not getting an enormous allowance of demand,” he said. “Certainly, some purchasers are saying they’d like to have an LPO option – that is unquestionably the case – but, basically, it is driven by a outlook that the firm has formed, which is that it is in our client’s concerns to be presented with as much flexibility [as possible].”

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Cebu needs training course to attract KPO investments

CEBU, Philippines - As Cebu positions itself as a preferred Knowledge-Process Outsourcing (KPO) market, it needs to develop more training programs to develop highly skilled outsourcing manpower, apart from honing the English proficiency capabilities.

Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) chairman for BPO-IT committee Jerry Rapes said that, now more than ever, Cebu has to double its efforts to provide more trainings for the KPO skilled workers to sustain the huge projected growth.

Although the KPO sector is not that mature yet to overtake the volume demand of voice-related services like call centers, as early as now Cebu has to brace itself and prepare for the anticipated growth of KPO and other high value related investments.

Currently, of the total 500 thousand to 600 thousand BPO-IT sector employment, about 75 percent is into the voice-related services.

In the next few years though, specifically in Cebu, KPO demand skills is expected to rise. In fact, Cebu now is the preferred choice of big KPO multinational companies, such as Wipro, Lexmark, NEC, among others.

Despite the active stance of Cebu BPO-IT stakeholders in further promoting the industry, Rapes said there are more things to be done, and providing more KPO related training is very vital to the growth of the industry in the next few years.

Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP) chairman Bong Borja said earlier that Cebu could leverage on attracting this high-level outsourcing service.

Borja said although the voice-service will still continue to grow in the next few years, despite the threat of the current US Bill against outsourcing, he said the capability of Cebu for huge KPO market will further boost the employment generation, and investment revenue for the province.

KPO is an emerging segment in the outsourcing sector that the Philippines has yet to penetrate. Currently, this market is dominated by India.

This middle and higher level outsourcing services will need professionals such as financial analysts, people who have degree and masters in human resource management, accountants, among others.

“These are the very expensive or high-paying type of outsourcing. I believe we have the talents and raw ingredients to attract the KPO market,” Borja said.

In October last year, BPO company Aegis PeopleSupport announced its interest to put up Aegis Global Academy in Cebu.

This plan is seen to boost the supply of KPO skilled workers in Cebu.

Aegis PeopleSupport is currently negotiating with the Cebu City government for the realization of this plan, as it is eyeing to put the facility at the South Road Properties.

In 2010, the Cebu City government turned over a five-hectare property which is equivalent to P500 million worth of property within SRP to the University of the Philippines-Cebu to establish the MBA school.

Based on the initial plan, UP is allowed to get industry partners to invest for the facility in the next three years. (FREEMAN) More

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PE-owned BPO Firms WNS, ExlService Announce Share Sales

Even as private equity majors continue to make the best of the rally in the Indian stock markets, they have lined two outsourcing companies for share sales. The two sales together could rake in over $200 million for the PE-backers of these companies, according to VCCircle’s analysis of the current share prices of these companies.

Business process outsourcing firm WNS (Holdings) Ltd has moved ahead with its offering and plans to sell 10.5 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) in an equal mix of primary and secondary offerings by Warburg Pincus. Private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners is also looking to completely exit ExlService Holdings, Inc., after halving its stake last year.

WNS had filed for a shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in October last year in which Warburg Pincus was allowed to sell its entire 47.9 per cent stake over a period of time. In the current offering, Warburg Pincus is selling 5.25 million ADS, with an option to sell another 1.575 million shares in case of over-allotment. This accounts for nearly one-third of Warburg Pincus’ current stake or over 15 per cent stake in WNS.

The share price of WNS closed at $9.65 a unit on Wednesday, down 1.03 per cent on the New York Stock Exchange. At this price, Warburg Pincus could get nearly $66 million for its shares (including over-allotment). WNS is also raising primary capital through issue of 5.25 million ADS for general corporate purposes, which may include capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt refinancing and working capital.

In another development, NASDAQ-listed business processing outsourcing firm ExlService Holdings has made a shelf registration in which it will raise $180 million. These funds can be raised through common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, depositary shares, etc.

The shelf registration also allows Oak Hill Capital to sell its remaining 17.3 per cent stake in the firm. VCCircle reported in December that Oak Hill sold 17-18 per cent stake in the firm since September 2011, realising $120 million in the process. ExlService co-founders, former Bank of America executive Vikram Talwar and the current CEO Rohit Kapoor, are also selling part of their shares in this offering.

The share price of ExlService closed at $24.96 on Wednesday, up 3.4 per cent. At this rate, Oak Hill Capital could realise $138.34 million for its stake.

Oak Hill Capital, along with Financial Technology Ventures and ExlService management team, had acquired 100 per cent stake in the company from insurance firm Conseco, Inc. (now called CNO Financial Group) in 2002. More

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BPO biz gives Infosys, Wipro tough time in Q3

the problem is not with sales, rather with sub standard quality of delivery by their uneducated headless nowheretogo crack troop work force hired at minimal cost and call center controlled management having no knowledge of even what the work is about, forget about skills! how long the customers will tolerate? they are bound to ask for rate cuts or non renewal or even cancellation of services as it is happening now. this is particularly true for these "IT BPOs" maintaining high bench strength due to non deployment.

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Integreon opens first UK LPO base and ramps up temp paralegal service

Integreon has launched the first-ever onshore legal process outsourcing (LPO) centre in the UK, as the outsourcer ramps up its temp paralegal service for clients.

The new LPO centre opened in Bristol this month after a request from a global client, which external sources have told Legal Week they believe to be Microsoft. The tech giant signed a deal with Integreon in April 2010 confirming the outsourcer as its exclusive provider of offshore managed document review.
The Bristol arm marks the first of its kind in the UK, with LPO work traditionally carried out in low-cost offshore regions such as India and the Philippines. The new centre will provide services in document review, contracts, M&A, due diligence and 
compliance support.

The news comes alongside an official launch of Integreon’s paralegal service, which will see the outsourcer provide firms with temporary staff when extra capability is required.

The outsourcer last year supplied Linklaters with around seven paralegals for its City banking practice and is set to send more paralegals to the firm over the coming months, while also offering the service to other 
legal clients.
Integreon global LPO head Janet Taylor-Hall said: “As the delivery of legal services evolves, it’s clear that most law firms and corporate counsel require a mix of on and offshore support.

“Although cost is clearly a significant driver in determining the choice of location, there are other forces at play, including ethical and legislative restrictions, familiarity with a client’s legal system, project duration, client comfort with a location, timezone preference and language skills. Some outsourced services are best delivered from an 
onshore facility.”

Integreon already has a centre in Bristol for business process outsourcing work, but has expanded its premises for the new LPO operation.
Integreon’s client portfolio also includes Allen & Overy, CMS Cameron McKenna, Simmons & Simmons and several FTSE 100 companies. More

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Taylor Wessing to offer LPO to law firms with low-cost business spin-off

Taylor Wessing is set to offer legal process outsourcing (LPO) services to other law firms with plans to spin off its document review business now underway.

The firm is currently appointing an adviser to look at a demerger of its New Street Solutions document review business to become an entirely separate entity.

The move could see the firm sell off a 51% stake in the business to outside investors, with Taylor Wessing partners retaining 49% ownership.

The firm said the process is still in the planning stages, but could see it raise £5m from external investors after the separation is complete.

If the firm decides to go ahead with plans, it expects the demerger to go live towards the end of 2012, with the option of a float also remaining under consideration.

New Street Solutions, which was launched in April last year, has 10 staff and offers low grade legal work such as due diligence, data mining and contract management services to Taylor Wessing clients. The business is expected to bring in more than £300,000 in revenues in its first financial year in operation.

The service currently acts as an alternative to LPO for Taylor Wessing's existing clients, but by separating the entity the firm hopes it will also allow it to more effectively sell its services to other law firms.

The firm has yet to decide on the best regulatory structure for the new business, as it provides both legal and non-legal services, with a corporate entity or an alternative business structure (ABS) both under consideration.

A Taylor Wessing spokesperson said: "It was always an intention of ours to spin it off if it proved to be successful because we want to provide services to other law firms. We are still in the process appointing an adviser and the details are not set in stone at this moment."

The news comes as a number of UK law firms remodel themselves in light of increased competition in the post Legal Services Act environment.

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