Tag: covid-19

Where is legal technology in Singapore today?

On 27th April 2023

In Law Firms, Lawyers, Legal Innovation, Legal Technology in Singapore

Reading time: 13 minutes

Written by Josh Lee Kok Thong

Introduction

Where is legal technology in Singapore today? For many who have followed the development of the sector here, this question is more than merely factual. At its core, it is a reflection on the past, present and future of Singapore’s legal technology sector, and traces the development of Singapore’s legal technology landscape.

This article explores this evolutionary arc. First, it describes the development of the legal technology industry from 2016 to 2020, which saw significant and growing interest, demand and dynamism in the use of technology in Singapore’s legal industry. Second, it examines what the legal technology sector looks like today, and two key phenomena that have defined this era: the COVID-19 pandemic and growing institutionalisation of the sector. Third, it looks at the implications of the present state of Singapore’s legal technology industry. Fourth, it suggests areas that Singapore’s legal technology sector can explore to infuse greater interest, innovation and investment into the ecosystem.

This article also hopes to highlight the two key groups of players to Singapore’s legal technology landscape: established institutional actors, such as the government and its various agencies, as well as large law firms and legal technology companies; and “ground-up actors”: local legal technology start-ups, informal and/or non-profit bodies set up by legal technology enthusiasts, student groups in law schools, global legal technology movements, and more. Over the course of the article, it is submitted that greater collaboration between both sets of players is encouraged for the success of Singapore’s legal technology ecosystem. For Singapore’s legal technology sector to reach its renaissance, such collaboration needs to be carefully developed and nurtured.

The medico-legal dilemmas of the regulation of telemedicine and AI in Singapore’s healthcare context

By Josh Lee

On 2nd March 2021

In Artificial Intelligence, Policy, Regulations

Reading time: 21 minutes

Written by Pramesh Prabakaran (Associate Author) | Mentored by Huiling Xie | Reviewed by Nydia Remolina

LawTech.Asia is proud to have commenced the third run of its popular Associate Author (2020) Programme. The aim of the Associate Authorship Programme is to develop the knowledge and exposure of student writers in the domains of law and technology, while providing them with mentorship from LawTech.Asia’s writers and tailored guidance from a respected industry mentor.

In partnership with the National University of Singapore’s alt+law and Singapore Management University’s Legal Innovation and Technology Club, five students were selected as Associate Authors. This piece, written by Pramesh Prabakaran and reviewed by industry reviewer Nydia Remolina (SMU School of Law), marks the fourth thought piece in this series. It examines the benefits, risks, and regulatory and legal issues that could arise in relation to the growing trend of telemedicine and AI in Singapore’s context.

TechLaw.Fest 2020 Quick Chats: Mark A. Cohen, Executive Chairman of Digital Legal Exchange, CEO and Founder of Legal Mosaic, LIFTED Catalyst-in-Residence

By Josh Lee

On 26th September 2020

In Access to Justice, Dispute Resolution, Events, Interviews, Law Firms, Lawyers, Legal Hackers, Legal Innovation, People

Reading time: 6 minutes

Interview by Ong Chin Ngee, Lenon Ong and Elizaveta Shesterneva | Edited by Ong Chin Ngee

TechLaw.Fest 2020 (“TLF”) will take place online from 28 September to 2 October 2020, becoming the virtual focal point for leading thinkers, leaders and pioneers in law, business and technology. In the weeks leading up to TLF, the LawTech.Asia team will be bringing you regular interviews and shout-outs covering some of TLF’s most prominent speakers and the topics they will be speaking about.

This week, LawTech.Asia received the exclusive opportunity to interview Mark A. Cohen, Executive Chairman of the Digital Legal Exchange, CEO of Legal Mosaic, and the Singapore Academy of Law’s LIFTED “Catalyst-in-Residence.” Mark will be sharing the stage with Richard Susskind for a special session of their “Uncertain Decade” series. They will be discussing “The Future of the Legal World.”

Conferencing Through COVID-19

By Jennifer Lim

On 3rd June 2020

In Dispute Resolution, Law Firms, Lawyers, Legal Research, Online Dispute Resolution

Reading time: 10 minutes

Written by Jennifer Lim and Irene Ng | Edited by Josh Lee

Authors’ Note: This article is a follow-up to LawTech.Asia’s earlier article on remote working, which can be found here.

Introduction

The recent global pandemic centering around Covid-19 has foisted large-scale digitalisation upon the legal industry. It has pressed firms, courts and clients to adopt remote working, practically forcing all lawyers to virtually turn “in-house” (pardon the pun) overnight as law firms react to government regulations by implementing “work-from-home” measures.

The legal industry should not shy away from embracing technology, and should in fact use this as an opportunity to rethink its models for operating and delivering services.. In this regard, the Singapore Courts have taken digital transformation in their stride, enabling hearings, pre-trial conferences, and even commissioning to be conducted via video-conferencing. Courts in the region, such as Malaysia and Australia, have also adopted similar modes of digital transformation and formulated their own Standard Operating Procedures and handbooks.

As a follow-up to LawTech.Asia’s earlier article on remote working (which focused on business continuity plans for law firms in general), this article seeks to focus on introducing practical strategies to optimise one’s use of video-conferencing tools. This article first examines strategies for optimising our workflow in the context of video-conferencing, before doing a comparison of certain common technologies.

What should the post lock-down legal industry look like?

By Josh Lee

On 17th May 2020

In Access to Justice, Law Firms, Lawyers, Legal Innovation, People, Policy

Reading time: 5 minutes

Written by Josh Lee | Edited by Jennifer Lim

Much ink has been spilt about how COVID-19 has changed and disrupted the legal industry. A search on Google turns up numerous articles on how COVID-19 has done overnight what no law or policy could: forced lawyers to adopt a fully-digital mode of doing business, changing court practices (to the extent that even being called to the Bar is now a digital occasion), and forced law schools to turn to AI invigilators to deter cheating in stay-home exams. Perhaps the clearest sign of the times is to hear practicing lawyers confide that for once, they get to spend more than 7 hours of their day at home.