[Editors’ Note: Please note that LawTech.Asia’s Birthday Bash has been temporarily postponed given the present public health situation in Singapore. Please continue to refer back to LawTech.Asia’s website for updates.]
Written by Cai Xiaohan, Tristan Koh, Utsav Rakshit | Edited by Josh Lee Kok Thong
In October 2018, LawTech.Asia published the first-ever detailed outline of the legal technology sector in Singapore. It was the result of a months-long project to map out the root, state and outlook of the legal technology sector in Singapore, and furthers LawTech.Asia’s fundamental purpose of improving awareness, knowledge and interest in legal technology. The article was imagined as a “living document” that will continue to be updated as more news comes to the fore.
Much has happened in the legal tech scene in Singapore since then. To encapsulate these developments, LawTech.Asia is proud to present the second edition of “Legal Technology in Singapore”.
Our first edition had argued that Singapore is currently in the midst of a “legal tech revolution”, which began sometime in 2015 and which was spearheaded by the government in Singapore. The past year has seen the government invest even moreresources into new initiatives to support legal tech adoption, and this edition of our article has been updated to include the following new developments:
Recent statements by the Judiciary on legal tech in Singapore;
New assistance schemes to support the adoption of technology in Singapore, such as:
Asia’s first legal tech accelerator, GLIDE by FLIP;
Tech-celerate for Law by the Law Society of Singapore, which will fund legal tech adoption by law firms;
Advancement of legal tech in the State Courts;
The establishment of the SmartLaw Guild;
The new creation of legal tech office-holders in public sector institutions; and
The development of tech-related curricula in local law schools.
In this second edition, we also posit that the Singapore legal tech revolution has entered into a new phase: new ground-up initiatives in the legal profession to support legal tech adoption. We suggest that more law firms, law students, and legal tech solution providers have started their own initiatives to encourage legal tech adoption. This new edition of our article covers, in particular, the law firms which have championed legal tech adoption by being early adopters, producing their own technology, or launching their own legal tech incubators / accelerators.
In our first edition of the article, we had also outlined three forces influencing the development of Singapore’s legal tech revolution: the liberalisation and internationalisation of Singapore’s legal industry; the increasing sophistication of clients; and increasing technological capability. In this second edition, we introduce a fourth influence: the progressive changes in Singapore substantive laws. We argue that, as Singapore’s lawmakers introduce progressive laws which encourage, rather than inhibit, legal tech growth, this would also shape the course of the legal tech revolution for the better. Laws discussed include the passing of the Payment Services Act 2019 as well as the proposed amendments to the Electronic Transactions Act.
To access the updated version of the article, “Legal Technology in Singapore”, click here!
As before, the authors wish to express thanks for the innumerable sources of information available online, without which this project would not have been possible. Any mistakes herein remain the authors’ own.
ALITA is the first Asia-Pacific organisation to inclusively bring together regional stakeholders to promote innovation and technology for legal services.
A new international association to promote the development and adoption of legal innovation and technology in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) was launched on Thursday September 5, 2019.
Held at TechLaw.Fest 2019, an annual law and technology conference in Singapore, the launch of the Asia-Pacific Legal Innovation and Technology Association (ALITA) was officiated by Justice Lee Seiu Kin, a Supreme Court Judge of Singapore and Chairman of the Legal Technology Cluster of the Singapore Academy of Law.
Interview by Lenon Ong, Elizaveta Shesterneva | Edited by Josh Lee
TechLaw.Fest 2019 will take place from 5 to 6 September 2019 in Singapore, bringing together the movers and shakers in the space of law and technology. In the next few weeks leading up to TechLaw.Fest, the LawTech.Asia team will be bringing you regular interviews and shout-outs covering prominent speakers and the topics they will be speaking at TechLaw.Fest.
This
week, LawTech.Asia received the exclusive opportunity to interview Alice Namuli
Blazevic, a Partner (Head of Technology and Innovation) at Katende, Ssempebwa
& Co Advocates, Kampala Uganda.
She
specialises in technology and the law with a keen interest in artificial intelligence,
blockchain, cryptocurrencies, cybersecurity and data protection. Her background
is in public-private partnerships, infrastructure projects, project finance, mergers
and acquisitions. She is an award winning lawyer, international speaker
and author. She is the chairperson
of the Uganda Legal Tech Network and the co-founder of the Legal Innovation
Hub. She is also the founder of a mentorship programme for young lawyers and
law students called “Coffee With Alice”. She has hosted several legal tech conferences
such as the World Legal Summit and the Development Sprint (Legal Hackathon) in
Uganda, just to name a few.
At TechLaw.Fest 2019, Alice will be speaking
about the “Innovation Journey in East Africa” on 5 September 2019, 4 pm (GMT+8).
Written by Josh Lee and Aileen Schultz (Founder, World Legal Summit)
The World Legal Summit (WLS) is a 30+ city, 20+ country initiative designed to bridge the gap between legislative understanding and emerging technologies. Part One will occur in physical locations simultaneously across a 24 hour window on August 1, while Part Two will occur between September 6 to 8. The WLS will also provide global networking and remote participation opportunities in a virtual world.
Introduction
Technology and global systems are evolving at unprecedented rates, with humanity now poised at the tip of the exponential curve of technological evolution. There is, however, a lack of incentives to create required legislative and regulatory frameworks for the proper governance and responsible use of such technologies. Further, legal advances in technology governance – typically developed in silos – are not keeping pace with the development of technology. In turn, this creates a governance and trust deficit between emerging technologies, their associated global systems, and the necessary frameworks for a globally sustainable future.
While the legal industry has seen global initiatives to drive technology in legal practice (such as through global events such as the Global Legal Hackathon), the World Legal Summit (“WLS”) tackles the converse challenge of legal and regulatory issues relating to new technology. It is primarily focused on emerging technologies that are global in nature and that are facing complex regulatory challenges. In its inaugural year, the WLS will be focusing on the following three technology categories:
