ALITA Award winners from India, Hong Kong SAR and Australia reflect growing pan-regional ecosystem
The Asia-Pacific Legal Innovation and Technology Association (ALITA) announced the winners of its second annual ALITA Awards at TechLaw.Fest in Singapore, with winners from India, Hong Kong SAR and Australia reflecting how the geographic diversity of the Asia-Pacific legal innovation and technology ecosystem has grown over the past year.
In addition to the five main ALITA award winners selected by a panel of esteemed judges being presented in person at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on July 20, the ALITA Audience Choice Award selected via online public voting was presented on spatial.io on July 22 by two Singapore Supreme Court judges, Justice Aedit Abdullah and Justice Lee Seiu Kin, both the current and past chairs of ALITA’s Board of Advisors – a worldwide historic first to have two supreme court judges in the metaverse!
ALITA Audience Choice Award 2022 being presented on the Techlaw.Fest stage in the Metaverse (on stage, from left: Justice Lee Seiu Kin, Justice Aedit Abdullah, Adeline Chin (Co-Chair, ALITA) and Brian Tang (Co-Chair, ALITA)
Three of this year’s ALITA Award winners are from India, namely:
ALITA Outstanding Legal Innovator (Industry) Award 2022 winner is Practice League with its Razor 365 contract management system (CMS), RazorCube Litigation Management Tool and RazorLex Practice Management software;
ALITA Outstanding Legal Innovator (Law Firm) Award 2022 winner is Khaitan & Co, one of India’s oldest and largest law firms, with its Continuous Collaborative Innovation Initiative; and
ALITA Audience Choice Award 2022 winner is Manupatra, India’s pioneering legal research tool.
Two of this year’s winners are from Hong Kong SAR, namely:
ALITA-Ant Group Outstanding Legal Innovation/ Legal Tech For Good Award 2022 winner is Equal Justice’s Pregnant @ Work and its trilingual public legal information platform project created using no/low code tools; and
ALITA Outstanding Legal Innovator (Legaltech Entrant) Award 2022 winner LeapXpert and its responsible business communication platform.
The well-deserved winner of the ALITA Outstanding Legal Innovator (Individual) Award 2022 is Jodie Baker of Australia. Jodie is founder of legal department matter management tool Xakia, former chairperson of the Australian Legal Technology Association (ALTA) and co-founder of the Women of Australian Legal Technology Association (WALTA).
This year’s ALITA Award received 45 nominations from 15 jurisdictions, and the 2022 sponsors Ant Group, Khaitan & Co and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas further reflects the increasing role of legal innovation and technology in China and India.
The panel of esteemed judges included Justice Aedit Abdullah (Singapore), Reimaging Justice’s Andrea Perry-Petersen (Australia), Legal Ops Podcast’s Elliot Leibu (Australia), Suffolk Law’s Gabriel Teninbaum (USA), ILTA’s Ginevra Saylor (Canada), ELTA’s Holger Zcheyge (Russia), ILTA’s Joy Heath Rush (USA), ACC’s Kat Kukreja (Hong Kong SAR), CAM’s Komal Gupta (India), AUSCL’s Marina Yastreboff (Australia), CLOC’s Mike Haven (USA), Oxford University’s Mimi Zou (UK), Singapore Academy of Law’s Paul Neo (Singapore) and Centre for Legal Innovation’s Terri Moreshead (Australia).
One of the ALITA Award judges, Mike Haven, President of CLOC and Head of Legal Operations at Intel, commented: “I was blown away by the quality of submissions. The outstanding, innovative work being done by these firms to enhance the efficiency and quality of their service offerings foreshadows a bright future for the legal industry.”
Another judge, Joy Heath Rush, President of the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA), said: “The range of countries represented in the submissions, as well as the scope of problems being addressed with technology, is truly impressive!”
Brian Tang, co-chair of ALITA’s Steering Committee who is based in Hong Kong SAR, China, said: “ALITA is pleased to showcase this year’s wonderful range of outstanding legal innovators and technologists from across the Asia-Pacific region! This year, we have expanded our reach and collaborations with leading ecosystem builders across the region and the world, and we are so pleased that our longstanding relationship with TechLawFest in Singapore has allowed us to make history by hosting two supreme court judges in the metaverse for the final award ceremony! With the rising rate of legal innovation and technology adoption and funding, the best is yet to come!”
Adeline Chin, co-chair of ALITA’s Steering Committee who is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said “The nominations received for the ALITA Awards reflects the robust innovation and enthusiasm for progress in the legal industry across the Asia-Pacific. The solidarity and support garnered from the organising teams as well as various partners, sponsors and industry stakeholders culminated in an incredible Awards ceremony that was held both in-person and in the Metaverse! There is much to look forward to in the legal innovation and technology arena!”
The ALITA Awards 2022 enjoyed broad support from numerous supporting organisations worldwide, including Singapore Academy of Law (SAL), Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC), Association of Corporate Counsel – Hong Kong, European Legaltech Association (ELTA), Australian Legaltech Association (ALTA), International Legal Technology Association (ILTA), Centre for Legal Innovation, Australasian Society for Computer Science and Law, Indonesian Regtech and Legaltech Association, Fintech Association of Hong Kong, Cyberport, Artificial Lawyer, Asia Law Portal, Legal Technology and Innovation Institute, Suffolk Law LIT Lab, LITE Lab@HKU and Reimagining Justice.
For more information:
Asia-Pacific Legal Innovation and Technology Association (ALITA) is a regional network which connects communities physically and virtually to facilitate cross-border collaboration to foster legal innovation and technology and promote the sharing of knowledge. https://alita.legal/
Membership for ALITA is free, and ALITA welcomes all new members who seek to foster legal innovation and technology across the Asia-Pacific region: https://alita.legal/join-us