Legal Outsourcing Services Boom as U.S. Courts Face Backlog Surge

WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. courts are increasingly straining under mounting case volumes and staffing shortages. At the same time, law firms and corporate legal departments are turning to external legal process outsourcing services to manage heavy workloads and rising operational costs.

According to the Thomson Reuters Institute report released in January 2025, about 68% of U.S. state courts reported staff shortages, while 48% of court professionals said they did not have enough time to complete their work.

Meanwhile, the U.S. legal process outsourcing (LPO) market generated approximately US$1.33 billion in 2023 and is forecast to reach more than US$7.47 billion by 2030. This suggests a compound annual growth rate of about 28%. Global figures tell a similar story: the LPO market is projected to reach roughly US$58.73 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 27.6%. 

The pressures facing U.S. courts ripple through the legal industry. Civil filings in U.S. district courts increased by 22% in the last 12 months ending March 31 2024. It indicates that the amount of work that must be processed, analyzed, and managed has grown rapidly. 

Law firms are responding. Increasingly, they outsource parts of their operations, such as contract review, e-discovery, document indexing, and client intake, to specialist providers rather than expanding internal staff. That shift offers cost predictability, access to sheer volume capacity, and the ability to scale up quickly.

Providers of outsourcing services say the growth isn’t only about price. 

“Clients demand high-volume capability, strong technology stacks, and rapid turnaround,” said Kashif Aqeel, director of Hazen Technologies Inc. 

“Outsourcing firms are winning because they build infrastructure that many law firms cannot. This is not just off-shoring, it is a strategic supply-chain for legal work.”

However, outsourcing comes with its own challenges. Data security, regulatory compliance, and ensuring consistent quality remain front of mind. The Thomson Reuters report noted that while outsourcing is increasing, only 17% of courts currently use generative-AI tools. This signals cautious adoption and hints at continued risk for firms relying on external capacity. 

Industry observers say the fundamental transformation is ahead. The outsourcing market is budding with new models: hybrid teams combining law-firm oversight and vendor execution, AI-driven platforms that handle first-pass review, and global delivery centres geared for legal volume. Some forecasts suggest the global LPO market could swell past US$85 billion by 2030. 

For U.S. law firms and in-house legal teams, the message is clear: when courts slow, the pressure to outsource rises. Outsourcing is less a cost‐cutting trend and more of a strategic necessity. Firms that invest in legal operations now may find themselves ahead when the backlog pressure finally eases.