TECHLAW.FEST DAY 1: MORE GENAI TOOLS AND RESOURCES
A record 1,200 visitors flocked to TechLaw.Fest 2024 on its first day
Second Minister for Law Mr Edwin Tong SC, Chief Executive of SAL Mr Yeong Zee Kin, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs for Microsoft Asia, Mr Mike Yeh and Justice Aedit Abdullah celebrate the collaboration between Microsoft and SAL at TechLaw.Fest 2024
TechLaw.Fest is often associated with the future, but this year’s edition opened with a peek into the past. The session’s three speakers—Second Minister for Law Mr Edwin Tong SC, Justice Aedit Abdullah and Mr Mike Yeh, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs for Microsoft Asia—reflected on their early years in the profession, with Mr Tong throwing out a term that many in the room had never heard of before: “paginator”, a now-obsolete tool used to number pages.
“Younger lawyers may look at me as if I was from the moon if I told them about the day-to-day practice—but it wasn’t actually that long ago, just three decades. And technology has changed so much in that time,” he reflected.
It’s also changed a great deal in just the past two years, thanks to the advent of GenAI. Even the GenAI of 2022 and today are worlds apart, especially in the legal sector. Today’s tools go beyond data analysis, allowing lawyers to automate routine tasks and focus on higher-value work like strategic guidance and client relationships. The impact is significant: a poll of Microsoft’s in-house lawyers showed that GenAI improved task efficiency by 32% and accuracy by 20%.
More Singapore law firms will soon benefit from these advancements, thanks to the newly announced ‘Copilot for SG Law Firms’. Launched by Minister Tong today, this initiative integrates Copilot into the Legal Technology Platform co-developed by Ministry of Law and Lupl, making it more accessible to legal professionals. Additionally, the Productivity Solutions Grant for the Legal Sector (PSG-Legal) provides funding support of up to 70% when law firms adopt the LTP and the ‘Copilot for SG Law Firms’ module. Interested firms should apply before 31 March 2025.
SKILLED FOR THE AGE OF GENAI
Most GenAI tools operate by responding to user commands, making prompt engineering—the skill of crafting effective commands—crucial in this new era. To support legal professionals, SAL is developing a suite of resources in collaboration with Microsoft. The first of these, a guide to using AI prompt engineering for legal contexts, was launched today. This guide, complete with video demonstrations, aims to help lawyers develop precise and effective prompts for various legal tasks. SAL will also offer an in-person course covering the skills and lessons from the guide.
Chief Legal Officer of Microsoft Singapore, Mr Jeth Lee, shares about the newly launched prompt engineering guide jointly created by SAL and Microsoft with Second Minister for Law Mr Edwin Tong SC
These resources are part of an ongoing collaboration between SAL and Microsoft to support the legal profession in adopting GenAI. Mr Yeong Zee Kin, CE of SAL, welcomed the initiatives, stating, “GenAI is transforming the legal landscape by being an effective partner in the lawyer’s office, helping them automate tasks with a precision and accuracy we have never seen before. This collaboration bridges that potential with the end users, so that we equip the entire profession, regardless of practice area, with the tools they need for efficiency and that help uphold the highest ethical standards in an increasingly AI-driven world.”
Mr Mike Yeh, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs for Microsoft Asia, emphasised the importance of mastering GenAI effectively and responsibly. He noted, “AI skills are crucial for career development, as our latest Work Trend Index shows 77% of Singaporean leaders prefer hiring candidates with such skills over more experienced ones without them. In tandem with the integration of Microsoft Copilot into the Legal Technology Platform announced today, we’re thrilled that our collaboration with SAL will empower lawyers with the necessary skills to use generative AI solutions in line with their professional obligations."
Access the Prompt Engineering guide here.
DID YOU KNOW? In the run-up to TechLaw.Fest, SAL released two episodes of Feed the Machine, a web series that pitted two lawyers against each other in a prompt showdown. Members can watch the episodes here. The Feed the Machine challenge is also open for members to showcase their prompting skills and win attractive prizes. Details are available here.
