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The Rise of Alternative Legal Mark Ross & Vince Neicho1
Services Providers
EVP of Contracts, Compliance, and
Commercial Services; VP of Legal
Services, Integreon
Even before the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, in-house legal departments and
their outside counsel were under considerable pressure to do more with less. The Great Recession
exacerbated this pressure and led to a surge in the exploration of innovative legal services delivery
models. Two key questions came to the fore for the in-house legal department: 1) Can we reduce
or eliminate the need to undertake certain legal services? 2) For the services we must consume,
how can we do so as cost-effectively as possible?
Stemming from these questions, a new legal ecosystem emerged in which, alongside in-
house resources and outside counsel, legal process outsourcing (LPO) began to play a crucial role
in the efficient delivery of legal services. Initially, the LPO industry’s raison d’être was the labor
arbitrage benefits available from outsourcing certain routine legal tasks to lower-cost locations
such as India, South Africa, and the Philippines. The class of providers augmenting the work of
in-house departments and outside counsel has since matured and grown significantly — to the
point that the “LPO” terminology is not inclusive enough to capture them. Today, a robust group
of companies more accurately described as alternative legal services providers (ALSPs) are
handling sophisticated work at a level we could not have anticipated even a few years ago.
Much of that transformation is because of ALSPs increasingly leveraging technology, particularly
artificial intelligence (AI). This article will discuss the impact of ALSPs (and the AI that some of
them employ) on the legal landscape. It will then address the journey law firms have navigated in
their use of ALSPs to date and what to expect in the future.
1 Mark Ross heads Integreon’s Contracts, Compliance and Commercial (CCC) business unit, with accountability for the P&L, solution
development, and delivery across the U.S., U.K., India, South Africa, and the Philippines.
Mark is a recognized thought leader in the Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) field. He is a former partner at the first U.K. law firm to offshore
legal work, and is the only person to have been invited to address the ABA, the Law Societies of England & Wales and South Africa, The Solicitors
Regulation Authority, and the International Bar Association on the topic of LPO.
Mark pioneered the development of the collaborative law firm and LPO delivery model for end-to-end contract management and led the
integration of artificial intelligence into Integreon’s contract review services. He also developed the first State Bar minimum continuing legal
education (MCLE) and continuing professional development (CPD) accredited courses on the ethical implications of outsourcing legal work.
He has been interviewed by numerous publications, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Time magazine, and has also been
invited to speak as a leading authority on LPO by organizations that include: Financial Times, U.C. Berkeley School of Law, Northwestern
University School of Law, Stanford Center for the Legal Profession, and the International Legal Ethics conference.
Mark is on the editorial board of Outsource Magazine, and is on the Advisory Boards of Suffolk Law School’s Institute on Law Practice
Technology and Innovation, and Northwestern University Law School’s Center for Practice Engagement and Innovation.
In September 2016 Mark was inducted as a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management.
1 Vince Neicho, a U.K. legal industry veteran, is an expert legal solutions consultant with a focus on law firms and corporate legal departments
engaging in e-disclosure, e-discovery, and document review. Neicho leverages his expertise in the litigation support field to help Integreon clients
design and plan highly efficient processes, establish flexible and scalable resourcing models, and utilise the latest innovative technologies, including
predictive coding and other types of artificial intelligence systems.
Neicho was previously Litigation Support Senior Manager at Allen & Overy, a global Magic Circle firm, where he introduced the concept of
outsourced document review. At A&O he amassed years of experience working with the firm's extensive corporate and financial institution clientele
on hundreds of matters, designing and managing a wide variety of litigation support solutions and technologies.
151
Services Providers
EVP of Contracts, Compliance, and
Commercial Services; VP of Legal
Services, Integreon
Even before the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, in-house legal departments and
their outside counsel were under considerable pressure to do more with less. The Great Recession
exacerbated this pressure and led to a surge in the exploration of innovative legal services delivery
models. Two key questions came to the fore for the in-house legal department: 1) Can we reduce
or eliminate the need to undertake certain legal services? 2) For the services we must consume,
how can we do so as cost-effectively as possible?
Stemming from these questions, a new legal ecosystem emerged in which, alongside in-
house resources and outside counsel, legal process outsourcing (LPO) began to play a crucial role
in the efficient delivery of legal services. Initially, the LPO industry’s raison d’être was the labor
arbitrage benefits available from outsourcing certain routine legal tasks to lower-cost locations
such as India, South Africa, and the Philippines. The class of providers augmenting the work of
in-house departments and outside counsel has since matured and grown significantly — to the
point that the “LPO” terminology is not inclusive enough to capture them. Today, a robust group
of companies more accurately described as alternative legal services providers (ALSPs) are
handling sophisticated work at a level we could not have anticipated even a few years ago.
Much of that transformation is because of ALSPs increasingly leveraging technology, particularly
artificial intelligence (AI). This article will discuss the impact of ALSPs (and the AI that some of
them employ) on the legal landscape. It will then address the journey law firms have navigated in
their use of ALSPs to date and what to expect in the future.
1 Mark Ross heads Integreon’s Contracts, Compliance and Commercial (CCC) business unit, with accountability for the P&L, solution
development, and delivery across the U.S., U.K., India, South Africa, and the Philippines.
Mark is a recognized thought leader in the Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) field. He is a former partner at the first U.K. law firm to offshore
legal work, and is the only person to have been invited to address the ABA, the Law Societies of England & Wales and South Africa, The Solicitors
Regulation Authority, and the International Bar Association on the topic of LPO.
Mark pioneered the development of the collaborative law firm and LPO delivery model for end-to-end contract management and led the
integration of artificial intelligence into Integreon’s contract review services. He also developed the first State Bar minimum continuing legal
education (MCLE) and continuing professional development (CPD) accredited courses on the ethical implications of outsourcing legal work.
He has been interviewed by numerous publications, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Time magazine, and has also been
invited to speak as a leading authority on LPO by organizations that include: Financial Times, U.C. Berkeley School of Law, Northwestern
University School of Law, Stanford Center for the Legal Profession, and the International Legal Ethics conference.
Mark is on the editorial board of Outsource Magazine, and is on the Advisory Boards of Suffolk Law School’s Institute on Law Practice
Technology and Innovation, and Northwestern University Law School’s Center for Practice Engagement and Innovation.
In September 2016 Mark was inducted as a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management.
1 Vince Neicho, a U.K. legal industry veteran, is an expert legal solutions consultant with a focus on law firms and corporate legal departments
engaging in e-disclosure, e-discovery, and document review. Neicho leverages his expertise in the litigation support field to help Integreon clients
design and plan highly efficient processes, establish flexible and scalable resourcing models, and utilise the latest innovative technologies, including
predictive coding and other types of artificial intelligence systems.
Neicho was previously Litigation Support Senior Manager at Allen & Overy, a global Magic Circle firm, where he introduced the concept of
outsourced document review. At A&O he amassed years of experience working with the firm's extensive corporate and financial institution clientele
on hundreds of matters, designing and managing a wide variety of litigation support solutions and technologies.
151
