U.S. Alternative Legal Service Providers Market - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

The U.S. alternative legal service providers market size to reach USD 18.83 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of over 23% during the forecast period. The ALSP industry will grow at a staggering CAGR during the forecast period. The revenues for alternative legal services providers market in US is expected to cross revenues of over $18 billion by 2025. This represents a compound annual growth rate of over 23% during the forecast period. The impact is due to the intense business and regulatory changes driving the need for sweeping, company transformations, and creating expansive hurdles for compliance and legal functions. While the market for legal services is currently in the nascent stage, they are driving a future focus that is centered on the growth and advancement of end-to-end solutions.

Alternative legal service providers increasingly appear on the horizon – they are mostly less expensive than in-house counsel and are better attuned to help confront legal struggles. They can aid with augmenting business operations and are thus gaining popularity. While historically in-house departments acted as low-cost alternatives to traditional law firms, the cost of conducting business and climbing salaries of law professionals is looming threats for in-house law management, thereby increasing the popularity of alternative legal services.

SNIPPETS

• Intense changes in the business and regulatory landscape are driving the need for sweeping, company transformations, thereby creating expansive hurdles for compliance and legal functions.
• As the distinction between traditional and alternative services is blurring, investing resources in brand definition and legal market positioning is more crucial than to facilitate awareness and understanding.
• The US ALSP market by eDiscovery is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of over 24% during the forecast period.
• The new law companies segment is expected to reach over $1.4 billion by 2025.

U.S. ALTERNATIVE LEGAL SERVICE PROVIDERS MARKET SEGMENTATION

The market research report includes detailed segmentation by

• Products
• Services
• End-user
• Geography

INSIGHTS BY PROVIDER

New Law firms have been the most disruptive players in the market, accounting for major work carried out in the document review and litigation spheres. There is a growing trend of building strong SLAs and use of performance metrics. With the growing openness of large law firms, there comes a growing affinity for a blended approach to deliver services. This approach has been increasingly adopted across firms over the last couple of years. 

As law firms, big as well as small, look to reclaim their position in the market, they have been developing in-house alternative legal service providers that can afford them the ability to delve into more services.

INSIGHTS BY SERVICES

The proliferation of the internet and smart device, along with the security and data privacy regulations are having their effect on the market. As the US is constantly refining eDiscovery laws via case rulings and the global privacy trend is having its bearing on American litigators, law teams are under more pressure to keep atop protection or privacy obligations. Hence, the US alternative legal service providers market is evolving at a rapid rate and faces possibilities of AI disruption.

As several organizations predict an uptick in litigations, the market for litigation and investigation support is expected to grow. Thomson Reuters accounts for a significant share of the market. They are constantly innovating their products to the changing realities of regulations and compliance demands. Businesses that venture in international trades are being threatened by trade wars, as a result, the environment is likely to be increasingly litigious.

INSIGHTS BY END-USERS

A shift in focus from brand status and services to efficacy, providing high viability on investments. The demand for document review and legal research continues to grow significantly. Unlike law firms, corporates tend to employ one alternative legal service provider or partner with them along with a law firm.

There is a lesser likelihood of using different service provider. This is expected to create a demand for services, which can be “all things to all people.” This has led to the service providers operating in the market taking huge strides to provide high value instead.

KEY VENDOR ANALYSIS

Alternative legal service providers have essentially entered the landscape around 2000, evolving with spurts across two time periods: from 1999-2007 wherein outsourcers such as Axiom, Integreon, and Exigent made their way into the market. The market is witnessing a growing number of global law firms, which are imparting credibility to the concept of legal service delivery. With clients increasingly moving further afield in the Rogers Diffusion Curve, lawyers and law firms will account for a less dominant share.

Hybrids of law firms and legal industry and alternative staffing companies are expected to become a norm, complementing law firms. The contrast is likely to be in terms of AI or technologies which is expected to contribute to the differentiation of new law companies.

The U.S. alternative legal service providers market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with revenues & forecasts for the following segments:

Market Segmentation by Providers

• New Law Companies
• Captive LPOs
• Staffing/Recruiting and Contract Lawyer Companies
• Others

By Services

• eDiscovery
• Investigation and Litigation Support
• Contract Management
• Document Review and Coding
• Legal Research
• Regulatory Risk and Compliance
• Others

By End-users

• Law Firms
• Corporations