CMS Cameron McKenna LLP (CMS), the leading European provider of legal and tax services has signed a 10-year agreement with Integreon, a leading legal and financial outsourcing outfit for what is called a “Middle Office services” outsourcing. This outsourcing contract includes substantial portions of accounting and finance, human resources and training, marketing and communications, learning and development, library and information services, research, information technology, facilities and other services. The total value of the agreement is £585 million ($850 million or Rs. 3,700 crore). This agreement is rumored to be the largest legal outsourcing deal ever. However, interestingly this deal does not include legal outsourcing portions such as document review, litigation support or any other functions of a legal outsourcing company.

John Croft, President of Global sales and account management at Integreon speaking from London to Bar & Bench said “One of the reasons why we were chosen was because we are a LPO and although legal services are not a part of the contract, going forward we may look at building this service for CMS. John also said “By outsourcing middle office services, CMS is able to focus solely on the practice of law”. We have 12 global delivery centers across the world in China, India, Philippines, South Africa and onshore centers at Bristol and London from where we can provide on-site support. A combination of low cost centers and on-shore support is a unique proposition from Integreon".

John also said that Director of operations at CMS, Tony Wright will be seconded to Integreon to start the due diligence and resource allocation. He said, “A deal of this size cannot be done in a day's time and therefore we have to take the right decisions and set up right processes”.

Integreon has been working with Clifford Chance, Osborne Clarke, Simmons & Simmons and Foot Antsey by providing a host of legal services.  By outsourcing the entire non-billable tasks to Integreon, CMS can focus on its core competency of providing high-end legal and tax services.

Duncan Weston, Managing Partner of CMS said, “We chose Integreon because it is the only firm with a global network of experienced professionals that can meet our needs. Integreon has proven itself to be a trusted and collaborative global services provider that creates real impact and significant bottom-line results for its clients. With a broad and integrated services portfolio that is unmatched in the industry and a unique track record of success with leading professional services organizations, Integreon will meet our needs as a rapidly growing law firm.”

Legal industry expert and commentator, Professor Richard Susskind commented, “This is a hugely significant development that sets the pace for the global legal market. The scale and ambition of the arrangement is remarkable, and the business case is compellingly strong – by outsourcing many of its non-core activities to Integreon, CMS should achieve major cost savings and free itself to focus more strategically on its clients and services.”

“CMS is a forerunner of law firms adopting industry best practices,” said Liam Brown, Integreon’s chief executive officer. “Beyond the obvious savings that outsourcing will provide them, they will also have the strategic advantage of focusing exclusively on what their clients retain them to do – provide expert legal counsel and services. The agreement with CMS confirms our commitment to deliver leading-edge innovation in business, technology, and process management to our law firm clients.”

What is noticeable is the fact that legal services have been excluded as part of this contract. Industry experts believe that legal services may be a part of a “second phase” contract as the deliverables for second phase may be completely different from that of the first phase. Integreon is one of the sole service providers who have built 360-degree support service capabilities for large law firms and have not restricted themselves to only providing ‘legal’ services. By focusing on non-revenue services of a law firm that require huge administrative resource allocation and capabilities, law firms can focus on their revenue generation, a core focus of law firms.