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.
As interest in technology and innovation in legal services rapidly gains ground across APAC, facilitation of cross-border collaboration in this rapidly developing space grows increasingly important. ALITA will serve as a pan-regional platform to promote the development and implementation of legal technology and innovation, including through thought leadership, education and cross-border projects. The organisation also seeks to enhance connections, collaboration and coordination between organisations involved or invested in legal innovation and technology across APAC to generate opportunities for its stakeholders.
A centrepiece of the launch was the virtual signing ceremony by ALITA’s Board of Advisors from around the region. The Board comprises global leaders in legal innovation and education:
- Justice Lee Seiu Kin, Supreme Court Judge of Singapore (Chairperson);
- Andrew Arruda, Co-Founder of Toronto-based AI legal tech company ROSS Intelligence;
- Komal Gupta, Head of Innovation & AI for India’s Cyril Amarchand Mangalas;
- Dr Mimi Zou, Co-Founder of the Deep Tech Dispute Resolution Lab at Oxford University;
- Terri Mottershead, Legal Innovation Director for Australia’s College of Law;
- Professor Goh Yihan, Dean of Singapore Management University’s School of Law;
- Ahmad Fikri Assegaf, Senior Partner at Indonesia’s law firm Assegaf Hamzah & Partners;
- Paul Neo, Chief Operating Officer of the Singapore Academy of Law.
ALITA is also led and managed by a Steering Committee to continuously drive developments in the legal technology sector regionally through effective knowledge sharing, a collaborative network and concerted efforts. Members of the Steering Committee comprise industry movers and shakers in the Asia-Pacific, including Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, India, Malaysia and Singapore. A list of Steering Committee members is set out in the Annex.
As a pan-regional and multi-stakeholder platform, ALITA already has more than 50 member organisations from across 15 countries, including law firms of all sizes, technology companies, corporations, startups, universities, legal academies, civic societies, legal tech ecosystem builders and legal associations that are committed to fostering collaboration and innovation across the Asia Pacific.
“Innovation and collaboration have no boundaries, and that’s demonstrated by this amazing initiative. I have no doubt that ALITA will advance the discourse and development of legal tech, AI and innovation in Asia,” noted Terri Mottershead, a member of ALITA’s Board of Advisors.
In the near future, ALITA aims to establish an online portal through which legal innovation knowledge, content and programming from around the world can be shared. ALITA also aims to provide frameworks and toolkits to assist the development of local associations or coordination bodies, as well as legal innovation strategies and roadmaps.
Innovation and collaboration have no boundaries, and that’s demonstrated by this amazing initiative. I have no doubt that ALITA will advance the discourse and development of legal tech, AI and innovation in Asia
Terri mottershead, board of advisor member, alita
An updated version of the State of Legal Innovation in the Asia Pacific (SOLIA) Report, an authoritative report consolidating legal innovation and technology developments in the region, was also launched at TechLaw.Fest 2019. The Report is a living document first released at the Stanford University Future of Law CodeX Conference in April 2019. Its co-Chief Editor and many of its contributors also serve as members of ALITA’s Steering Committee.
Membership for ALITA is open to all organisational stakeholders in the legal innovation and technology sector in APAC. Details for membership can be found on ALITA’s website at https://alita.legal.
Annex: List of Steering Committee Members
- Josh Lee Kok Thong, Co-Founder, LawTech.Asia [Chair]
- Lee Ji En, Chapter Organiser, Legal Hackers Singapore; Member, Oxford Deep Tech Dispute Resolution Lab [Deputy Chair]
- Narae Lee, Legal Counsel, Blockcrafters; Chapter Organiser, Legal Hackers Seoul
- Maurice L. Rabb, Founder, LegalTechJapan.com; Chapter Organiser, Legal Hackers Tokyo
- Adeline Chin, Co-Founder, LawTech.Malaysia
- Tony Lai, Founder, Legal.io; Entrepreneurial Fellow, Stanford CodeX Blockchain Group
- Kanan Dhru, Founder, Research Foundation for Governance; Chapter Organiser, Legal Hackers India
- Brian Tang, Founding Executive Director, LITE Lab@HKU; Managing Director, ACMI; Chapter Organiser, Legal Hackers Hong Kong
- Andrew Wong, Member, LawTech.Asia
- Jennifer Lim Wei Zhen, Co-Founder, LawTech.Asia
- Aidan Goh, President, Singapore Management University Legal Innovation and Technology Club
- Wan Ding Yao, Co-Founder, LawTech.Asia; President, Singapore Management University Whitehat Society
Further info:
- ALITA featured on The Straits Times, 5 Sep 2019 – https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/new-international-association-launched-to-promote-use-of-technology-in-legal-profession
- ALITA featured on The Straits Times, 6 Sep 2019 – https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/new-body-to-promote-tech-use-by-legal-professionals-in-region
- ALITA micropage for TechLaw.Fest 2019 – https://www.techlawfest.com/alita/
- ALITA featured in OpenGov Asia, 6 Sep 2019 – https://www.opengovasia.com/new-sia-pacific-legal-innovation-and-technology-association-in-singapore/
- ALITA LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/alita-legal/
- Press Release: Centre for Legal Innovation (Australia) joins ALITA – https://www.cli.collaw.com/latest-on-legal-innovation/2019/09/06/cli-joins-asia-pacific-legal-innovation-and-technology-association-alita
- ALITA featured in The Edge Singapore – https://www.theedgesingapore.com/issues/disruption-and-digitalisation/tech-should-be-used-support-lawyers-not-replace-them-shanmugam
- 2019 State of Legal Innovation in the Asia Pacific Report – https://www.sal.org.sg/Portals/0/PDF%20Files/State_of_Legal_Innovation_APAC_2019.pdf?ver=2019-04-09-133830-127