The following content has been provided by the panel presenting on this topic during the morning on day 2 of ICLR 2019.
Synopsis
In a rapidly evolving legal landscape and digital world, legal practitioners are engaging an increasingly sophisticated clientele requiring solutions that lie at the intersection of different industry sectors. The panellists will be sharing perspectives and observations from efforts by Singapore, Canada, and Scotland to encourage innovative use of legal technology, artificial intelligence, and the related regulatory considerations.
This session will focus on the recent efforts to encourage innovation in and the use of technology in the provision of legal services, with discussion including the following:
- Perspectives on the creation and adoption of open-source legal research databases and legal technologies;
- The business, legal, and regulatory challenges posed by the use of artificial intelligence; and
- The successes and lessons learnt from existing efforts to overcome resistance to change and the use of legal technology.
Speakers
Moderator: Joan Janssen, Director of Legal Services, Ministry of Law, Singapore
Panellist: Sarah Sutherland, Director Programmes and Partnerships, Canadian Legal Information Institute
Panellist: Ivan Mokanov, President, Lexum Inc.;
Panellist: John McKinlay, Convenor Technology Law and Practice Committee, Law Society of Scotland
What particularly do you hope to explore in this session? Any specific questions you hope to answer?
- Encouraging innovation through tech to ensure the flourishing of the legal industry could lead to potential under-regulation, while a focus on consumer protection may result in overregulation and stifling of development. How are these considerations balanced in the regulation of legal service providers?
- What are some key guiding principles from your respective jurisdictions that can guide the future of legal regulation in relation to the use of tech?
- How do the existing legal frameworks (or other features) of your jurisdictions encourage innovation in legal services?
- What are some examples of resistance to innovation through tech in the provision of legal services? What has worked (and what has not) to help overcome such resistance?
What do you hope to achieve with this session?
This workshop aims to engage participants in a rich discussion and sharing of experiences from various jurisdictions and regulators with regard to encouraging innovation in the provision of legal services via technology. Discussion topics include:
- Lessons learnt from efforts to overcome resistance to change and legal technology in Singapore;
- The business, legal, and regulatory challenges posed by the use of artificial intelligence in Scotland; and
- Experiences from the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) and its technology and publishing partner, Lexum Inc on open-source online legal research and legal technology.
See the full conference programme