Scotland's first centre for legal process outsourcing (LPO) will bring 21 new jobs to Glasgow and could blaze a trail for professional services outsourcing in Scotland.

NewGalexy Services, which provides legal services to large corporations and legal firms worldwide, has chosen Scotland as the base for its European operations after a successful campaign by Scottish Enterprise. The company also has bases in London, Chicago and Mumbai.

It is part of an industry worth up to $1 billion worldwide and growing at around 30% a year.

Robert Glennie, NewGalexy co-founder and executive chairman, said: "Support from Scottish Development International (SDI) was a key component in our decision to build our new onshore LPO business in Glasgow."

He said European legislation would drive businesses to consider alternatives to offshoring legal work, and the company was getting support from existing and potential new customers for the new facility.

Sarvarth Misra, NewGalexy co-founder and executive director, added: "Our new delivery centre in Glasgow will use technology and processes to provide innovative higher end LPO services, rather than back-office services. We expect to grow to more than 50 lawyers over the next few years."

Anne MacColl, chief executive of SDI, said: "Legal process outsourcing has a huge global market, and this investment will build on Scotland's world-renowned reputation for legal expertise as well as creating new jobs."