Unpack The Legalese

In our globalised world, important commercial transactions often take place across multiple countries. The unrelenting pace of technological innovation will amplify the opportunities for such cross-border deals. To stay relevant, legal professionals must be comfortable with this new reality, which means understanding the underlying business and technological considerations as well as the legal rules that apply to cross-border deals.

The practice of law is set to become ever more challenging. The world is increasingly interconnected and technological development is a key catalyst in accelerating this evolution. Consequently, the number of cross-border transactions that require legal fluency in multiple sets of laws is certain to grow exponentially. To thrive in this dynamic and fast-paced environment, legal professionals will need to be well-versed in cross-border business and finance law.

As global economic power shifts eastward, Asian nations are working to deepen regional economic integration through multilateral endeavours such as the ASEAN Economic Community, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Legal and business communities, too, are pushing for the increased convergence of Asian commercial laws, as this would reduce the uncertainties, delays and costs caused by inconsistencies between different legal regimes.

However, bringing national business laws in this diverse region closer together is not without obstacles, said Professor Tang Hang Wu, Academic Director of the Centre for Cross-Border Commercial Law in Asia (now known as Centre for Commercial Law in Asia), Singapore Management University (SMU). He is also a consultant and co-head of the Trusts and Private Wealth Practice at TSMP Law Corporation.

Prof Tang explained: “Asia is not a monolith — it comprises different countries with myriad languages, legal cultures and stages of development. Secondly, in some countries there may exist a formal and semi-formal way of doing things. Thus, the law in the books may be very different from the law in practice. Finally, it is often difficult to find the political will from the leaders of many countries to agree to converge their business laws.”

Successful transnational commercial lawyers, said Prof Tang, are therefore “amphibians” — that is, they can thrive in different environments with ease. “A successful lawyer must be skilled not just in the law but in the cultural context, and be able to bridge the differences between the parties and conclude a successful contract or settle a dispute which may have arisen between the parties.”

Technology, too, has vastly altered the legal profession. Among the topical problems that lawyers face are the commercialisation of intellectual property and the protection of personal data across state borders. Business lawyers and in-house counsels alike will thus have to upgrade their knowledge to understand the requirements imposed by other Asian and leading Western legal systems, as well as continuously track the myriad changes to Singapore law that affect technology and its use.

“All businesses need to be acutely aware of the need to safeguard and control the use of personal data under the local laws of any country, either in which it is used in any way or to which it is transferred,” said SMU’s Professor David Llewelyn who has been practising and teaching intellectual property law for many years in the United Kingdom and, more recently, in Singapore.

GO WHERE THE HUB IS

To overcome costly or difficult cross-border externalities, many businesses increasingly choose to have their contracts governed by the laws of countries that are well-regarded as transparent, neutral and pro-business. Cue Singapore, with its top-notch judiciary and its clean and incorrupt system. Indeed, the Singapore government is firmly committed to positioning the country as Asia’s foremost regional legal hub.

For example, the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) offer a comprehensive suite of options for businesses to resolve cross-border disputes. This infrastructure also makes it attractive for companies to adopt the use of Singapore law in their commercial dealings, even if they are located or primarily do business in other countries.

The result is a growing demand for lawyers and in-house counsels who are well-versed in Singapore and key transnational rules. Those with relevant non-legal skills, such as an understanding of the underlying business processes of the industries they are dealing with, are even more sought after. “Lawyers with good analytical skills, the ability to think laterally and ‘out-of-the-box’, and cross-cultural sensitivity are seeing an increasing demand for their services,” observed Prof Llewelyn.

In his Opening of the Legal Year 2020 speech, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon offered insight into the desired attributes that the lawyers of tomorrow should possess: “The constant churn of knowledge in an ever-evolving world demands a responsive and dynamic system of continuing education that targets the profession’s most pressing needs, efficiently imparts new skills, and engages the profession’s interest and attention.”

Pathways should also be created for mid-career individuals with non-law backgrounds to enter the profession, added Chief Justice Menon. “This will encourage individuals with complementary backgrounds and skillsets — such as in computer science or STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics]-related fields — to join and so strengthen our legal services sector.”

SMU offers a Master of Laws (LLM) programme, an advanced law degree which has ‘Cross-Border Business and Finance Law in Asia’ as one of its three tracks. All LLM students are required to take courses on law and technology, mediation and commercial obligations. For more information, click here.

SMU also offers a Juris Doctor (JD) programme, a qualifying law degree for professionals who have prior experience and expertise in other disciplines and who wish to leverage that knowledge to enhance Singapore’s legal profession. For more information, click here.

This article was reproduced with permission from channelnewsasia.com (March 6, 2020) www.cna.asia/smumasters-law