LawTech.Asia

Reading time: 5 minutes

Interview by Amelia Chew | Edited by Utsav Rakshit

TechLaw.Fest 2018 will take place from 4 to 6 April 2018 in Singapore, bringing together leading thinkers in the space of Technology Law and leading makers in the space of Legal Technology. In the lead-up to TechLaw.Fest, the LawTech.Asia team will bring you regular interviews and shout-outs covering prominent speakers and the topics they will be speaking at TechLaw.Fest.

This week, LawTech.Asia sat down for a chat with Alexis Chun, Co-Founder of Legalese. Alexis will be speaking at the Law of Tech Conference on the panel titled Legal Issues in Legal Tech.

What are your views on SAL’s Legal Tech Vision?

The Legal Tech Vision is a commendable effort and a step in the right direction. I applaud SAL for taking on the important task of thought leadership in the industry. It’s heartening to see the sentiment of LegalZoom’s Eddie Hartman being echoed, i.e., that we should enlist non-lawyers to help fix the legal market. Indeed, there is a distinction between the legal industry and the legal profession. Not drawing that distinction clearly obfuscates a couple of key points: What is the role of the lawyer? How much of advice hinges on having gone to law school? How much of it is applied experience or business strategy? Is law a service industry or one that sells products? What about the decoupled parts of “law” — corporate secretaries, legal executives, patent agents, etc?

I look at that and think, now, how will that change in this software eaten world?

Initial Coin Offering: an Inaccurate Term with an Imperfect Regulator

By Amelia Chew

On 21st March 2018

In Uncategorized

Reading time: 10 minutes

Guest Post by Patrick Dahm

(Editor’s note: This article was originally published on Patrick’s blog here. We would like to thank Patrick for graciously allowing us to reproduce this article on this site for our readers.)

This is my speech at the first Computational Law & Blockchain Festival – Singapore Node on 17 March 2018. In it, I tried to explain what initial coin offerings are, why governments all over the world eye them curiously, and how governments regulate them – if they regulate them. I also questioned why brick and mortar governments regulate something so digital.

Hi, I’m Patrick.

I’m a lawyer. I practise cyberlaw, as I like to call it. Although this is derived from the term cyberspace, which seems to be a bit vintage. It shouldn’t be, if you ask me.

I’m here to talk about initial coin offerings, or ICOs. I shall try to do so, and then some.

To be honest, I’m not a fan of initial coin offering as a term. Neither is the MAS, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which doesn’t call them that. The MAS calls them digital token offerings, which is so much better.

Here’s why.

Initial Public Offerings

Initial coin offering resembles the traditional term initial public offering. An initial public offering is the first time shares of a private company are offered to the public. Think of listings on the stock exchange.

TechLaw.Fest Quick Chats: Matt Pollins, CMS Singapore

By Amelia Chew

On 20th March 2018

In Artificial Intelligence, Contracts, Cybersecurity, Events, Interviews, Law Firms, Lawyers, Legal Innovation, People

Reading time: 4 minutes

Interview by Utsav Rakshit | Edited by Amelia Chew

This week, LawTech.Asia sat down for a chat with Matt Pollins, Partner at CMS Singapore and CMS “Innovation Champion”. He leads the Commercial and Technology, Media and Communications team. Matt will be speaking at the Tech of Law Exchange on the panel titled Deliberate Disruption: A Tale of Three Law Firm Tech Journeys.

What steps has CMS taken to embrace new technologies?

CMS has been investing in legal technology for the past 20 years. If you rewind to the 90s, CMS first started using platforms like document automation in our Real Estate and Finance practice groups.

TechLaw.Fest Quick Chats: Cherilyn Tan, Asia Law Network

By Amelia Chew

On 13th March 2018

In Contracts, Interviews, Law Firms, Lawyers, Legal Innovation

Reading time: 4 minutes

Interview by Amelia Chew & Wan Ding Yao | Edited by Josh Lee

TechLaw.Fest 2018 will take place from 4 to 6 April 2018 in Singapore, bringing together the movers and shakers in the space of Technology Law and Legal Technology. In the lead-up to TechLaw.Fest, the LawTech.Asia team will be bringing to you regular interviews and shout-outs covering prominent speakers and the topics they will be speaking at TechLaw.Fest.

This week, LawTech.Asia sat down for a chat with Cherilyn Tan, Founder and CEO of Asia Law Network. Cherilyn will be conducting a Legal Tech Primer Session titled, “What works for you? Professional Networking, Client Management and Business Development Platforms”.

In your view, what goes into building a brand or a reputation?

Brand and reputation are two separate things. To build a brand is to be consistent in building and executing something. When it comes to building a reputation, it’s what you want that brand to represent. If you are consistently delivering the same mission, vision and values, then that goes towards your reputation. Your brand can be good or bad, depending on what you’re consistently doing, but your reputation is what you stand for.

TechLaw.Fest Quick Chats: Edmund Koh, INTELLLEX

By Jennifer Lim

On 26th February 2018

In Artificial Intelligence, Events, Law Firms, Lawyers, Legal Innovation, Legal Research

Reading time: 6 minutes

Interview by Jennifer Lim Wei Zhen | Edited by Amelia Chew

TechLaw.Fest 2018 will take place from 4-6 April 2018 in Singapore, bringing together leading thinkers in the space of Technology Law and leading makers in the space of Legal Technology. In the lead-up to TechLaw.Fest, the LawTech.Asia team will bring you regular interviews and shout-outs covering prominent speakers and the topics they will be speaking at TechLaw.Fest.

This week, LawTech.Asia sat down for a chat with Edmund Koh, Chief of Staff & General Counsel at INTELLLEX. Edmund will be speaking at the Law of Tech Conference on the panel titled Legal Issues in Legal Tech.

Edmund Koh (far right) with the INTELLLEX team

What do you think of Singapore’s Legal Tech Vision released by the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL)?

It is a very ambitious and timely roadmap for law firms in Singapore. It’s a call for law firms to start embracing technology and innovation. In other industries, there has been more of an impetus to adopt technology already as it clearly makes a person’s work more efficient. In contrast, for the longest time, lawyers have thought that our work is so different and unique that it is not susceptible to disruption by technology. I think that is changing. The Legal Tech Vision is really telling the legal landscape that everyone should sit up and take note of what’s going on.

LawTech.Asia

Asia's Leading Law & Technology Review

TechLaw.Fest Quick Chats: Alexis Chun, Legalese

Initial Coin Offering: an Inaccurate Term with an Imperfect Regulator

Initial Public Offerings

TechLaw.Fest Quick Chats: Matt Pollins, CMS Singapore

TechLaw.Fest Quick Chats: Cherilyn Tan, Asia Law Network

TechLaw.Fest Quick Chats: Edmund Koh, INTELLLEX