FirstCOUNSEL in the News: The Edge Singapore

By Jeffrey Tan for The Edge Singapore

"Twenty-five-year-old Victoria is a trainee solicitor at an international legal firm. Her job involves meeting clients regularly to discuss their legal needs, and then drafting and redrafting legal documents.

It is a tedious job that Victoria, who asked not to be identified by her real name, thinks will soon become easier.

Her firm is expected to make a major announcement related to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) at its upcoming town hall meeting. 'I think we see the need to move in that direction,' she tells The Edge Singapore.

Indeed, the legal industry is being swept by a wave of digital disruption. Technological advancements are enabling legal firms to be more innovative and efficient in providing legal services to clients.

At the Future Lawyering Conference in July, Senior Minister of State for Law and Finance Indranee Rajah impressed upon lawyers the importance of technology. 'It is those lawyers who are able to innovate and adapt, and adopt technology who will win the future,' she said. 'The penetration of technology into the practice of law is not something on the distant horizon. It is here and it is now.'

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Another start-up, FirstCOUNSEL, provides commonly-used legal templates as a 'starting point' for use by entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs.

'We are working on some cognitive computing aspects for our platform,' says Azmul Haque, FirstCOUNSEL co-founder and CEO. 'The technology is very nascent and we hope to evolve our platform as technology gets more usable.'”

Read more at: https://www.theedgesingapore.com/lawyers-may-need-tech-skills-ai-changes-nature-legal-industry