SINGAPORE, 02 OCTOBER 2020 – A legal profession powered by technology—that’s the bold new vision put forth for the profession’s future at the end of TechLaw.Fest 2020. Attracting more than 6,000 registrants from over 100 countries, the event featured more than 50 networking opportunities, panel discussions and keynote addresses over five days.

TechLaw.Fest 2020 also boasted more than 120 speakers from the likes of tech giants Alibaba and Google, academia, and leading local and international law firms. Together, they offered thought-provoking and practical insights into legal innovation, technology law, access to justice and the future of automated legal operations.

Said Mr Edwin Tong SC, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law, “With its record turnout and success in bringing stakeholders of legal innovation closer together, TechLaw.Fest 2020 has shown how a purely digital event can be just as meaningful and engaging as a physical one. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it is a good example of how technology and innovation can help us pull through and emerge stronger. The Technology and Innovation Roadmap (TIR) seeks to encourage the legal industry to step up efforts in technology adoption and innovation, so that we can better position ourselves to seize more opportunities in the new normal.”

Said Ms Serene Wee, Chief Executive of the Singapore Academy of Law (“SAL”), “It has been a huge week for the entire profession. Thanks to technology, we were able to host a wholly virtual event that saw leading minds from across time zones discussing the rapidly evolving role of the legal profession and the variants of legal technology, and how both will intersect in the future of law. At the heart of all this is a key issue of access to justice. The profession now has a deeper understanding of the implications and opportunities of digital transformation and we hope this week has provided a new impetus for changes in mindsets on what legal services are all about.”

Initiatives launched at the five-day TechLaw.Fest 2020 include:

• Legal Industry Technology & Innovation Roadmap: Launched by Mr Tong, the roadmap identifies technologies that impact the delivery of legal services. It also includes an overview of current and upcoming initiatives to support the development and adoption of such technologies.
• ALITA Legal Tech Observatory: Spearheaded by the Asia-Pacific Legal Innovation and Technology Association (“ALITA”), the Legal Tech Observatory is the world’s first regulatory observatory for legal technology. Modelled after similar observatories in blockchain and artificial intelligence, the ALITA Legal Tech Observatory provides a real-time database of legal tech players and initiatives in the Asia-Pacific. It will be a hub for actionable insights for jurisdictions and industries, with input from a broad spectrum of legal tech actors.

For more on these initiatives, kindly refer to releases from Ministry of Law and ALITA.

The third edition of TechLaw.Fest was the largest ever, both in terms of reach and content. Running from 28 September to 2 October 2020, it was free for all registrants. It was organised by SAL, Singapore’s Ministry of Law and MP Singapore.

ENDS