QuisLex, a Hyderabad-headquartered offshore legal services provider, has acquired SQ Global Solutions LLC in an all-cash transaction for an undisclosed sum.
SQ Global was formed in 2006 as a 50:50 joint venture between QuisLex, a 250-strong company, and Strategic Legal Solutions, a New York-based temporary legal staffing company employing over 300 in the US. SQ Global provides offshore legal support solutions such as litigation document reviews, merger and acquisition due diligence and contracts management to global 500 corporations and Am Law 100 law firms.
“The acquisition gives us the advantage of getting a frontend and permanent presence in the New York region and also access to SQ Global’s established litigators, who are subject matter experts, which we plan to leverage on. Besides, the deal allows us to offer a combination of offshore and onshore services to our clients,” Ram Vasudevan, chief executive officer of QuisLex, told Business Standard.
SQ Global Solutions has 12 employees, of which about six are subject matter experts.
The acquisition brings 20 marque clients of SQ Global Solutions into QuisLex’s fold, which already has about 40 customers predominantly in the US and Canada.
“Legal firms in the US tend to be more ‘counter-cyclical’ and are increasingly looking at cost-effective ways in the current economic situation. The current recession is only reinforcing the blooming prospects of the legal process outsourcing (LPO) business in India,” Vasudevan said.
Forrester Research has projected offshoring 29,000 legal jobs by the end of 2009 and 79,000 by 2015. It expects the Indian LPO industry, which is currently pegged at $130 million, to touch the $4-billion mark by 2015.
