Revisiting “The Next Frontier of Lawyering” Conference

ASEAN ESG Future of law Legal technology Law schools

Insight August 14, 2023

On August 3-4, 2023, David B. Wilkins headlined “The Next Frontier of Lawyering: From ESG to GPT,” a conference co-hosted by the Singapore Academy of Law and Yong Pung School of Law at Singapore Management University. Professor Wilkins is the faculty director of the Center on the Legal Profession, as well as the Lester Kissel Professor of Law and the Vice Dean for Global Initiatives on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School. His keynote address, “From ‘Law’s Empire’ to ‘Integrated Solutions’: How Globalization, Technology, and Organizational Change are Opening ‘New Frontiers’ for Lawyers, Clients and Society” analyzed how societal change, market forces, and technological disruption is changing how the legal profession operates. Wilkins drew on considerations such as the advent of generative AI, the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and generational change to speak to how law firms, legal departments, and law schools should think about the future of the profession. In addition to his keynote address, Wilkins moderated a panel

Three individuals sit on a stage in front of a giant screen — David B. Wilkins; Yong Pung How School of Law Dean Lee Pey Won; and Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC Director Ng Joo Khin.

David B. Wilkins speaks to a room full of conference participants. — David B. Wilkins; Yong Pung How School of Law Dean Lee Pey Won; and Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC Director Ng Joo Khin.

Photo Credit: Singapore Academy of Law.

Wilkins later also moderated a panel on technology and the legal profession, with The Honourable Justice Aedit Abdullah, Supreme Court of Singapore; Mr Eric Chin, Asia Pacific Director, NewLaw, PwC; Mr Adrian Fisher, Asia Head of TMT, Linklaters; and, Assistant Professor Jerrold Soh, Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University. On August 4, participants

On day 2 of the conference, CLP organized a case study discussion around “What Microsoft’s Reorganization of Its Legal Function Says About the Future of Legal Services in the New Normal.” The session drilled down on Microsoft’s reorganization of its legal department into Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) function in July 2021, examining what it means for in-house functions, the law firms and other providers serving them, and the legal professional more generally.

Speaker’s Corner