Legal Services Market Size & Share, Global Market Research and Industry Forecast Report, 2019-2025 (Includes Business Impact of COVID-19)

                                          
Industry Insights, Market Size, CAGR, High-Level Analysis: Legal Services Market


The global legal services market size was valued at USD 794.50 billion in 2018 and is expected to register a CAGR exceeding 4.1% from 2019 to 2025. The increasing adoption of the Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) model is expected to provide an impetus to the market growth. The LPO model envisages procuring legal support services, usually provided by in-house legal professionals and attorneys, from a third-party service provider. The growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in providing legal services is expected to transform the judicial profession considerably over the forecast period. AI allows enterprises to help scrutinize contracts in bulk and analyze the data to predict the outcomes of judicial proceedings better than humans. Moreover, AI-powered software can also leverage Natural Language Processing (NLP) to help analyze legal documents. For instance, ROSS, a legal research service powered by AI, helps clients in finding the appropriate law that can support the clients requirements.

AI-based legal services are gradually gaining prominence in Asia Pacific. For instance, Wusong Technology, an internet legal services provider based in China, is working on digitizing several functions conventionally undertaken by the countrys courts with the help of AI-based chatbots. The bots called Fa-Xiaotao use case analytics and help in retrieving case histories and locating lawyers, among other essential tasks, thereby reducing workload and improving efficiency. Similarly, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, one of the leading law firms in India, has collaborated with Kira Systems of Canada, to adopt AI-based solutions for activities, identifying, analyzing, and extracting clauses and other information from contracts and other documents.

On the other hand, the use of web-based technologies is allowing legal professionals to work virtually from anywhere. The ease of working remotely is providing professionals with an alternative method of practicing law and fostering a better work-life balance. Legal services firms are also pursuing collaborations with virtual assistant providers to employ a virtual assistant that can help in practicing law. Virtual assistants can allow companies to cut down on the overhead costs incurred on payroll taxes, sick leave entitlements, and training the staff.

The use of lawyer bots to offer legal help and ease access to justice to the masses is also growing. Meanwhile, the market is particularly expected to witness significant adoption of electronic discovery (e-discovery) applications. The recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allow parties to obtain electronically stored information (ESI), such as e-mails, e-calendars, and voicemails, provided it is relevant, nonprivileged, and proportional to the needs of the litigation subject to certain factors. However, the use of ESI could potentially increase the complexity and costs associated with the e-discovery process and change the overall dynamics of large-scale and complex litigation processes.

Services Insights

The litigation segment accounted for a revenue share of over 27% in 2018 as enterprises continued to incur significant expenses on managing their litigations. Service providers involved in legal financing and third-party litigation funding are progressively diversifying the range of their jurisdictions and building global capacity. This is particularly opening growth opportunities for providers providing services related to litigation. Demand for legal services related to litigation is growing as stringent regulations pertaining to areas, such as labor relations and intellectual property (IP) protection, have been drafted in both developed and developing economies.
The advent of new modes of financial transactions is particularly leading to financial litigations on corporate as well as individual fronts, thereby driving the growth of the litigation segment over the forecast period. Changes in taxation regimes tend to have a significant on the economic growth of developed as well as developing economies. Having realized this, several leading players have started offering a myriad of tax advisory services to cater to the tax and judicial needs of businesses. The taxation segment is expected to register a noticeable CAGR over the forecast period as a result. Tax advisory services often include multidisciplinary platforms that can help clients in tackling their issues related to taxation.

Firm Size Insights

The large firms segment accounted for a revenue share close to 40% in 2018. Large firms provide a wide range of legal services. They also handle most of the judicial work, including large-scale litigations, criminal defense matters, and major business transactions for companies belonging to a variety of industries. The growing demand for corporate judicial services from large enterprises is expected to contribute to the growth of the large firms segment over the forecast period.

On the other hand, medium-sized legal services firms and small-sized legal services firms are aggressively opening offices globally and are hence recruiting attorneys from all around the world. Medium-sized and small-sized legal services firms are particularly approaching global clients to help them in managing their legal obligations. They are also offering high-end specialized services involving complex transactions to widen their global reach. Hence, the medium firms and small firms segments are expected to gradually gain significant share over the forecast period.
Provider Insights

The legal business firms segment dominated the market in 2018 and accounted for a significant revenue share of over 45%. Legal services firms are finding it challenging to maintain profitability as the growth of the market has been stagnated over the years. Hence, legal services companies are either increasing their rates or reducing their expenses. They are also investing in business development strategies, such as client education, pipeline management, public relations, and local community activities.

Legal services companies are also using predictive analytics tools to analyze massive datasheets for extracting information, determining patterns, and predicting future outcomes and trends. Predictive analytical tools have been readily helping legal services firms in their decision-making activities. For instance, Intraspexion, Inc. uses a deep learning model to alert companies about possible litigation risks and to help them in saving on legal expenditures. Another trend evident in the market is the growing preference for alternative legal services providers (ALSPs), which is expected to potentially encourage paralegals to establish independent businesses.

Regional Insights of Legal Services Market

North America is expected to emerge as the leading regional market for legal services over the forecast period. The U.S. would particularly contribute to the growth of the North America regional market. The increasing work volumes within the legal departments of corporate companies in the U.S. are necessitating alternative ways to offload some workload to legal services providers. Moreover, the increased mergers and acquisitions activities in North America are also driving the demand for legal services in the region.

Asia Pacific accounted for a noticeable market share in 2018. The market share can be attributed to the rigorous implementation of judicial and regulatory requirements, especially in countries, such as India and China. For instance, in India, lawyers have started offering sophisticated cross-border judicial services to corporate clients, thereby opening immense opportunities for growth. Legal services companies, such as Baker and McKenzie, Allen & Overy LLP, and Venable LLP, have also established their presence in India, which is further expected to contribute to the growth of the regional market.

Market Share Insights of Legal Services Market

Baker & McKenzie, Clifford Chance LLP, E&Y, and KPMG are some of the prominent players operating in the legal services market. Providers are aiming at technological developments, the introduction of products based on technologies such as AI, Deep Learning, and the increased deployment of e-discovery to remain competitive in the industry. For instance, In June 2018, Baker McKenzie launched an AI platform, named Lancelaw, as a part of its digital transformation strategy. The personal assistant provides the lawyers with a weekly selection of personalized as well as relevant news pieces associated with innovations and transformations in the law profession. It is based on neuronal circuits and machine learning techniques and has been trained by two lawyers to learn to prioritize its sources when selecting the news items.

Segmentations, Sub Segmentations, CAGR, & High-Level Analysis overview of Legal Services Market Research Report

This report forecasts revenue growths at global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For the purpose of this study, this market research report has segmented the global legal services market report based on services, firm size, provider, and region.

Services Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2019 - 2030)

  
Taxation
  
Real Estate
  
Litigation
  
Bankruptcy
  
Labor/Employment
  
Corporate

Firm Size Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2019 - 2030)

  
Large Firms
  
Medium Firms
  
Small Firms

Provider Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2019 - 2030)

  
Private Practicing Attorneys
  
Legal Business Firms
  
Government Departments
  
Others