Calling all members: Meet where it Matters.

Dear Members,

TechLaw.Fest 2021 returns from 22 - 24 September 2021 in a hybrid format! Once again, the world's leading law and tech conference will discuss and deliberate developments and innovations in the law of technology and the technology of law.

With just a month to go, preparations are in full swing, and our friends at the Singapore Academy of Law are working in tandem with all stakeholders to ensure that the fourth edition of TechLaw.Fest is both "COVID-safe" and packed with themes and topics to start pertinent conversations with!

What's more! For 20 weekdays, both before and after TechLaw.Fest, get matched with the delegates you want to meet and have a chat -- in style over wine! It's #Matchworking! - TechLaw.Fest's definition of the perfect meeting of minds.

The best part? It's complimentary.

Also come on board as an exhibitor: Collaborate with TechLaw.Fest to showcase your brand solutions and services, and enjoy awareness and presence in the community of the brightest legal professionals and technologists from the world-over! Connect with Quinie Tan (quinie.tan@mpinetwork.com) for more details.

It doesn't get any better than this. Register today to save your slot!

For the Asia Pacific, 
ALITA.

THE ALITA SOLIA AWARDS 2021

Join the Asia-Pacific's first community-based legal innovation and technology awards today.

Since its inception, the mission of ALITA has been to coordinate legal technology and legal innovation initiatives across the Asia-Pacific, as well as enhance opportunites for its member organisations.

This year, one of ALITA's key objectives is to recognise and highlight exemplary role models for legal technology in the region, as well as raise the stature of the Asia-Pacific's legal innovation and technology industry.

To these ends, ALITA is establishing an APAC-centric set of legal innovation and technology awards that will be recognised as high-quality, ethical, inclusive, community-based, and tied to the long-term growth of the legal technology industry. The Awards comprises six categories under two broad sections - ALITA Main Awards and the People's Choice Awards. The categories are:

ALITA Main Awards

1. Legal Technology Entrant Award;

2.Legal Transformation Project Award; and

3. Tech-cess to Justice Award.

People's Choice Awards

1. Sans Silo Award;

2. Legal Technology x COVID-19 Award; and

3. Legal Technology Wildcard Award.

The finals of the ALITA Main Awards categories will be held at TechLaw.Fest 2021 in late September. Recipients of the ALITA Main Awards categories and People's Choice Awards will also be recognised at TechLaw.Fest 2021. More information on the application, voting and selection processes can be found by reading the Awards informational factsheet.

If you have a project that might fall under any of these categories above, register at https://solia.alita.legal, or use the registration form today! Registering for more than one award category is permissible.

​​​​For more information about the Awards, please do not hesitate to contact ALITA at hello@alita.legal. We look forward to your participation in the Awards!

For the Asia Pacific, 
ALITA.

ALITA’s Second Members’ Call - June 2021

Following the success of the first ALITA Members' Call in April 2021, ALITA was pleased to bring our members to the next session of of our ALITA Members’ Call — an initiative to drive performance and success through insights, information and interaction.

Tapping on ALITA's vast network of legal innovation industry leaders, the 2nd ALITA’s Members’ Call continued the spirit of being exclusive zone within which deep insights could be cultivated, information shared and networks developed, all in an informal and specially-tailored manner.

Second Members’ Call in June 2021

On 23 June 2021 (Wednesday), we organised our second Members’ Call. The Call featured Andrew Arruda, CEO of Automate Medical, Co-Founder of ROSS Intelligence, and a member of ALITA’s Board of Advisors, as our key speaker.

Andrew’s sharing centred on How to Build a Legal Tech Start-Up. In the discussion that followed, participants learnt and discussed about the four key areas of building a legal tech start-up: Product, User, Team and Execution. The group also discussed about how these insights could be used to spot high-potential legal tech start-ups, and how even law firms and organisations could use these principles to adopt a “start-up mindset”.

We are very pleased to see our members’ continued support for ALITA’s Members’ Calls, and glad that we achieved the objectives of providing an informal and exclusive space for deeper discussions about the industry to be had. Participants’ feedback was also highly positive, reflecting the demand for such an initiative.

We look forward to seeing more members at the next Members’ Call!

For the Asia-Pacific,

ALITA.

Introduction to ALITA’s Members’ Calls

Today, as the world continues to live with multiple lockdowns and restrictions, we are lacking the very ingredients that drive performance and success - insights, information and interaction.

Tapping on ALITA's vast network of legal innovation industry leaders, ALITA launched a members-only programme known as ALITA’s Members’ Calls. The Members’ Calls are an exclusive zone within which deep insights may be cultivated, information shared and networks developed, all in an informal and specially-tailored manner.

Every session, which will be held every 1-2 months, will feature a top speaker in the legal innovation and technology industry. These range across topics about techonlogy, macro and micro industry trends, regulatory issues and more. After a sharing by the speaker, participants will be invited to share their views and experiences in a moderated setting. This will allow all participants to learn different perspectives, and develop clarity and make sense of regional dvelopments.

Inaugural Members’ Call in April 2021

On 7 April 2021 (Wednesday), we organised our inaugural Members’ Call, featuring Dr Mimi Zou, who heads Oxford University's Deep Tech Dispute Resolution Lab, as our key speaker. Dr Zou’s sharing centred on Machine Learning for Dispute Avoidance. In the discussion that followed, which saw the 20 participants from 7 APAC jurisdictions, representatives of participating member organisations discussed vigorously about the uses of AI in dispute resolution, and future trends in the legal industry.

We are very pleased to see the reception to our inaugural Members’ Call, and glad that we achieved the objectives of providing an informal and exclusive space for deeper discussions about the industry to be had. Participants’ feedback was also positive, reflecting the demand for such an initiative.

We look forward to seeing more members at the next Members’ Call. Details will be released soon!

For the Asia-Pacific,

ALITA.

ALITA represented strongly at KL Start-Up Summit 2021 LawTech Track

The Asia-Pacific Legal Innovation & Technology Association (ALITA) was pleased to see its members and partners strongly representing the Asia-Pacific legal innovation industry at the KL Start-Up Summit's LawTech Track yesterday!

Our Steering Committee members Ji En, Adeline, Brian W Tang and Narae spoke on the panel titled "APAC Legal Tech Snapshot: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Legal Technology Markets across the Asia-Pacific"; while Maurice, as well as Hsiang Low, Shanice Choo and Aditya Singh from ALITA's close partners Linklaters, Clifford Chance and White & Case LLP spoke about "Legal Innovation in Law Firms 2021". Our Chairperson, Josh Lee, also delivered a keynote speech on the topic “APAC as The Rising Star in Legal Tech”.

Last but not least, Chang Zi Qian and Evan Wong from our member organisations, INTELLLEX and Checkbox.ai, also spoke on the "Legaltech Startup Story" panel.

All around, it was a great day of insights from ALITA and its network of partners and members - testifying to the vast depth of experience and excellence in legal tech in the Asia-Pacific. Great work to all participants and the organisers Adeline and Law Asia 365!

Watch some of the key highlights from the LawTech Track of the KL Start-Up Summit below!

Keynote Speech: APAC as the Rising Star in Legal Technology

Panel 1: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Asia’s Legal Technology Market

Panel 2: Legal Innovation in Law Firms

Panel 3: Legaltech Startup Story

A must-watch webinar for in-house counsel on removing barriers to the innovation journey.

ALITA is proud to be co-organising a webinar with the Asia-Pacific Corporate Counsel Alliance (APCCA) on in-house innovation.

On 30 November 2020, ALITA is proud to be co-hosting a webinar on in-house innovation with the APCCA and Hukumonline. Specifically, the webinar will focus on how in-house counsel can navigate the oft-choppy waters of embarking on an innovation journey, and how fellow in-house counsels have found ways to tackle their pain points.

If you are an in-house counsel pushing for innovation in your company or legal department, this webinar for you.

Digitalisation & Innovation: Removing Barriers to the In-House Counsel Innovation Journey” – How to Get Support from CEO & Business Leaders

Date: 30 September 2020 (Monday), 2 - 3pm Singapore Time 

Platform: Zoom

Programme:

Opening Speech by:

• APCCA - Reza Topobroto, Secretary General of APCCA

• ALITA - Josh Lee, Chairperson of Steering Committee, ALITA

Panelist Speakers:

1. Revantha Sinnetamby, Honorary Treasurer of Malaysia Corporate Counsel Association (former GC Scomi Engineering (Malaysia), Bulldog Communications (UK) and SmartTrust ((Sweden) and AGC EMEA for Juniper Networks)

2. Brian Tang, Executive Director of HKU LITE Lab, ALITA Steering Committee Member

3. Arkka Dhiratara, CEO & CTO of Hukumonline.com

Moderator:  Rajeev Chopra, MD (Legal), Accenture India

Registration is free. As seats are limited and in high demand, be sure to reserve your seat today!  

Closing Remarks for Justice Lee Seiu Kin at ALITA Session at TechLaw.Fest 2020 

1. Ladies and gentlemen, a very good evening to all of you.

2. It gives me great pleasure to close this session dedicated ALITA. This is also the last formal session of TechLaw.Fest 2020, and it is my honour, at the same time, to close off the week - five long but fruitful days, which have given us many insights on the intersection of law and technology.  And the wonderful thing is that we have done all this wholly through an online environment, in keeping with the subject matter of the event.

3. If history is any indication, the future is inherently unknowable. Almost exactly one year ago, at TechLaw.Fest 2019, we were clinking glasses and chatting face-to-face. One year on, and the world has changed beyond imagination. Entire conferences had to be conducted online. Court hearings – even trials – are conducted by video conferencing, in Singapore as in many other countries. 

4. The challenges that all of us faced - and endured - have shown us the following:

   1. First, the importance of technology in ensuring resilience and continuity amidst disruption;

   2. Second, the vast potential of our people and legal systems to pivot and innovate; and 

   3. Third, the importance of collaboration and cooperation in legal innovation.

5. The first two points have been covered at length by our accomplished speakers over the last five days. Let me touch on the third point – the role of collaboration and cooperation in legal innovation.

6. Various open-source initiatives show how people can truly work collaboratively in today’s world – Apple and Google have collaborated to create a contact tracing protocol that works cross-platform; a medical products manufacturer open-sourced a design for ventilators so that they can be made anywhere. And in the legal sector, Rajah & Tann, CMS and Cooley have co-developed LUPL (spelt “L-U-P-L”). This is an open-source industry platform for legal technology that seeks to bring radical changes to collaboration in legal technology and innovation. 

7. ALITA has its own open source effort - “Aspirations for Legal Innovation and Technology” (or ALITe for short). These statements, or aspirations, that its members have identified, represent the collective hopes for legal innovation in the region. Clearly, this is a space for collaboration, not competition. And as we have just heard from the SOLIA panel, there is much that we can all learn from each other’s experiences.

8. All these show the importance of having a convening platform like ALITA for the legal tech industry. When it was proposed last year, it was hoped that ALITA could foster greater collaboration for legal innovation and technology in the Asia-Pacific. A year on, ALITA has more than 150 member organisations from over 20 jurisdictions, including some of the world’s largest law firms and technology companies. This extent of “buy-in” is extremely encouraging and speaks to shared recognition of the importance of ALITA’s mission. 

9. I am also pleased that, today, ALITA has released an updated SOLIA report. In addition, ALITA is launching the world’s first Legal Tech Observatory as well as Asia’s first Legal Innovation Strategy Toolkit. Over the past year, ALITA has also organised the Global Legal Hackathon Virtual Summit 2020, and developed its own livestream platform. That ALITA has been able to do all these, in this challenging environment, shows us what is possible when we put our minds and efforts together in the spirit of collaboration.  It is also a testament to the passion and energy of the remarkable people behind ALITA.

10. And this leads me to acknowledge the impressive efforts of the team that has been driving ALITA. ALITA’s achievements would not have been possible without its Steering Committee, a passionate team of key drivers and change-makers for legal innovation in the region. Special mention must be made of the ALITA Secretariat, which comprises enthusiastic young law students who show great promise to become the next generation of legal tech eagles. And all these would not have been possible without the partnership with ALITA’s key regional partners, Rajah & Tann Asia and Regit, the support of all ALITA’s members, as well as the guidance and support of my fellow members on the Board of Advisors.

11. I have no doubt that ALITA will grow from strength to strength. Together, we can do much to make ALITA a collective force for good and a platform to head towards a promising future powered by technology.

12. Finally, I would like to say a few words as we come to the close of TechLaw.Fest 2020. 

13. This conference series began as a legal technology conference in 2011 and TechLaw.Fest 2020 is the fifth edition. We have made it an annual event since 2018. Although the theme of technology would suggest it, this is the first-ever “cyber” edition of TechLaw.Fest. It has taken a global pandemic to make us go virtual.  And just like the positive experience reported about online courts that you have heard on Tuesday’s night’s session with Richard Susskind, Mark Cohen and Tan Ken Hwee, I think you will agree with me that this has been an unequivocal success. Over the last five days, we have seen profound discussions on legal operations, technology and future law, access to justice, and legal innovation - all in an entirely online conference, along with virtual exhibitions and networking. While we certainly miss the experience of meeting in-person, the online format has allowed us to push the limits and try new things. Above all, it has enabled TechLaw.Fest to reach a greater global audience.  We had initially limited registrations to 5,000 sign-ups, but in the week prior to the event, there were so many people on the waitlist that we increased it to 6,000 registrations which was also fully subscribed before the opening day. The smallest sessions attracted well over 100 participants with the main sessions registering 400 to 800 participants. All sessions have been recorded and may be viewed on-demand, enabling this conference a greater reach for some time to come.  Participants have come from more than 100 countries from all time zones, all over the globe.  We will take a little time to fully analyse the data, but my sense is that this conference format dramatically extends the reach of the message that we want to get out and holds great promise for the scope and scale of future editions of TechLaw.Fest. 

14. In closing, I would like to thank the Ministry of Law, the Singapore Academy of Law and MP International for putting together these five wonderful days.  I very grateful to the Second Minister for Law, Mr Edwin Tong for joining us in the Fireside Chat session. I also thank all our valued partners whose support and encouragement have enabled us to get this event out.  I also thank all the members of my Organising Committee who have willingly stepped up to brainstorm and push out this conference.  Last but not least, I would like you all to join me in thanking the wonderful team who have worked hard behind the scenes so that we may have a seamless learning experience.  There too many dedicated people to name, but I must mention Anita Parkash, who will stand out as the dynamo behind TechLaw.Fest. Without the hard work and dedication of Anita and her team, TechLaw.Fest 2020 would not have been possible.  And I would like also to congratulate the winners of “The Game” – I hope all participants enjoyed this fun twist as much as the knowledge and friendships you have gained. Although it is bittersweet to have to part, take heart, the show is not quite over yet. There is a music performance after this that will stream together with a behind-the-scenes reel of the build-up to this year’s TechLaw.Fest. So do stay on a bit and unwind from a memorable five days. 

15.  Thank you, stay healthy, and see you all at TechLaw.Fest 2021.

Watch the full recording of the ALITA-GLH Virtual Summit 2020 here.

Announcing the ALITA-GLH Virtual Summit

ALITA is proud to announce the ALITA-GLH Virtual Summit, organised in conjunction with RSG Consulting and the Global Legal Hackathon, and in support of the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Hackathon 2020 (FTIL Hackathon). The FTIL Hackathon remains live and open to registrations until 17 May 2020.

As businesses worldwide face major disruptions as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it is now more essential than ever that the legal industry be ready to address challenges as they arise. 

In this regard, the hour-long Virtual Summit will discuss the effect the pandemic has had on the legal industry and legal technology, and how technology can help the legal industry respond. The Summit will also highlight the FTIL Hackathon’s importance and context, and emphasise why it is important for the global legal industry to respond resoundingly. Participation is highly recommended for all ALITA members and participants of the FTIL Hackathon.

Participants can expect excellent insights from a distinguished panel of global thought leaders, as well as interactive elements during the Summit. The panel comprises:

1. Mark Cohen, CEO and Founder of Legal Mosaic, USA

2. Noah Waisberg, CEO and Co-Founder, Kira Systems, Canada

3. Mimi Zou, Co-Founder, Oxford Deep Tech Dispute Resolution Lab, UK

4. Rajesh Sreenivasan, Head of TMT Practice, Rajah & Tann Asia and Director, R&T Technologies, Singapore 

5. Kearra Nicolle, Executive Director, Global Legal Hackathon, UK

The panel will be moderated by Yasmin Lambert, Partner and Senior Consultant at RSG Consulting, UK.

When will it be held

The ALITA-GLH Virtual Summit will be an hour-long event, and will be held on 8 May 2020, at 12pm BST. 

How can I participate in the Summit?

There are two modes of participation for the Virtual Summit (both of which are free). As the Virtual Summit will be conducted via Zoom, participants can tune in to interact with the panellists directly. Registration, which can be done below, is required and only limited slots are available.

Alternatively, the Virtual Summit will be live-streamed for viewers on ALITA’s live-streaming platform, ALITALivestream, which can be accessed at dev.alita.legal. Registrations are not required to watch the Summit on ALITALivestream, so you can also follow the Summit there if registrations are full.

For greater interactivity, an interactive portal will also be made available for all participants and viewers (even if non-registered) to take part in live polls and ask questions (which can be answered live or after the Summit).

It’s all for a better tomorrow

ALITA is fully committed to the betterment of the future of the Asia Pacific legal industry. See how ALITA is supporting the FTIL Hackathon in other ways here.

We look forward to seeing you at the Summit!

For the Asia-Pacific,

ALITA.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been called “the challenge of a generation”. In ways big and small, all of our members have been touched by it. It is an adversity the likes of which few in the legal industry have seen since the Great Depression.

In the face of adversity, however, we find opportunity - an opportunity to respond, solve problems, and improve the state of the world.

ALITA: Supporting Organisation of the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Hackathon

In this regard, ALITA is proud to be a supporting organisation of the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Hackathon 2020, a global hackathon calling on organisations and individuals in the legal sector to develop solutions to problems created by the coronavirus pandemic.

Organised by the Global Legal Hackathon and supported by the Financial Times’ Innovative Lawyers programme, the hackathon will bring together legal professionals, software developers, designers and business people to develop solutions to problems identified by organisations, governments and individuals. More information on the Hackathon can be found below.

How is ALITA involved?

ALITA is proud to be collaborating closely with the Financial Times and the Global Legal Hackathon on this historic drive for technological solutions to this generational challenge.

In this regard, ALITA is privileged to be contributing two problem statements to the Hackathon. ALITA is also proud to be recognised as a supporting organisation of the Hackathon.

ALITA is also exploring further avenues of collaboration with the Financial Times. We hope to be able to share updates about future developments with our members shortly!

ALITA’s call to action

If you have been looking for ways to rise to and answer the challenge of a generation, this is your chance. Whether you are a legal professional, a technologist, a designer or anything in between, and whether you are operating as an individual or as part of organisation, you can register to participate in the Hackathon here.

The Hackathon, which will be held entirely online, goes live from today, 27 April, to 17 May. Registrations can be accepted at any time, and teams can spend any amount of time during this period to collaborate and develop their solutions. At the end of the Hackathon, a selection of solutions will be showcased on FT.com in June. This will include case studies and summaries written by FT journalists and RSG Consulting.

It is about how we respond

In the next three weeks, let us put our collective minds together as one community to deal with the many challenges that this generational crisis has posed to us. History will remember us not by our challenges, but our responses to them. Register for the Hackathon here today.

For the Asia Pacific,
ALITA.

Good afternoon distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

The very engaging panel on the State of Legal Innovation in the Asia-Pacific we just enjoyed and the publication on which it was based, had their beginnings in October last year when Paul Neo discussed with Jerrold Soh the idea of doing a stocktake of all the legal innovation and technology initiatives in Asia. 

The following month, FLIP, LawTechAsia and Legal Hackers SG co-hosted the inaugural Legal Hackers APAC Summit in SMU, at which many delegates expressed a shared desire for an international platform that could serve as a permanent forum for their countries’ legal tech communities to engage with others from the region. 

While leading legal tech centres around the world like the USA, Europe and Australia have bodies like the International Legal Technology Association (“ILTA”), European Legal Tech Association (“ELTA”) and the Australian Legal Tech Association (“ALTA”), respectively to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing across their communities, there is no similar entity in the region, the Asia Pacific, which has the potential to become the world’s largest legal tech market. Further, it was felt that a focus on innovation of business models, structures and systems within the legal industry was just as important as on technology.

I am very heartened to learn, therefore, that when the idea for ALITA was first floated, it found immediate support from our friends in the legal tech communities of China, India, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, the USA, Mexico and even Brazil! While the desire for the rule of law is universal, the laws of each country are deeply connected to its historical and cultural roots. I am optimistic that ALITA will enable our legal tech communities to exchange ideas that are suited to the circumstances of our region and our geographical and cultural linkages.

The establishment of ALITA would not have been possible without the passion and drive of our founding ExCo led by Mr Josh Lee, Co-Founder of LawTechAsia and Mr Lee Ji En, Chapter Organiser of Legal Hackers SG. I am also grateful to our founding Board of Advisors comprising Mr Andrew Arruda (ROSS Intelligence), Dr Mimi Zou (Oxford University), Ms Terri Mottershead (CLI - Australia Rep), Ms Komal Gupta (Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas - India Rep), Pak Ahmad Fikri Assegaf (R&T Asia - Indonesia Rep), Prof Goh Yihan (SMU Law) and Mr Paul Neo (Singapore Academy of Law) for lending their time to help guide this very exciting and ground-breaking effort.

I look forward to all your active participation and support of ALITA!

Thank you.