With new technologies, come new ideas. And with the advent of blockchain, business transactions of all kinds will experience a significant evolutionary step towards automation. Its disruption also challenges business models that have withstood the test of time, calling for more clarity and understanding of these digital trends.

This module introduces the fundamentals of blockchain, cryptocurrencies and smart contracts. Participants will also learn to combine both legal and smart agreements in one cohesive process using techniques applied in the field, in aim to offer their clients the best of both worlds.

This module is part of the Graduate Certificate in Law and Technology.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand how blockchain works in the context of smart contracts
   
• Manage the key stakeholders involved in the smart contracting process
   
• Understand the advantages of smart contracts in the reduction of the need for legal instructions and human intervention
   
• Formulate strategies allowing for the co-existence of legal and smart contracts in a single transaction
   
• Learn about the advantages and limitations of blockchain technology and appropriate use cases
   
• Understand the legal and regulatory environments that are in scope for smart contracts
   
• Understand the inherent legal risks of automated contracts and how the risk is managed
   
• Understand what Cryptocurrencies are and how they work
   
• Understand what ICOs are and how they work

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

• Practicing lawyers and Legal Services Officers
• Paralegals
• Allied Legal Professionals (e.g. Legal Technologists)

PREREQUISITE

• A Bachelor's Degree; or
• A Diploma with at least 3 years of working experience

ASSESSMENT

As part of the requirement for SkillsFuture Singapore funding, there will be an assessment conducted at the end of the course.

CERTIFICATION

Upon meeting the minimum attendance requirement (>75%) and passing the assessment, participants will be awarded a digital Certificate of Participation after each module. 

For a complete certificate, participants are required to take 7 out of the 10 modules in accordance to the pathway of their choice. The pathways are created based on job profile and the module requirements for each pathway vary accordingly.

• Innovator
  
  For those looking to transform their practice
  Modules 1, 2, 4, 7, and any three remaining modules 
  
   
• Researcher
  
  For those interested in frontier issues in technology law
  Modules 1, 5, 6, 7, and any three remaining modules 
  
   
• Practitioner
  
  For those looking to update themselves on growing areas of practice
  Modules 1, 7, 8, 9, and any three remaining modules

The modules offered under each pathway are organised into the following categories to better facilitate participants’ selection of modules and learning.

• Foundation Knowledge
• Legal Technology
• Technology Law
• Impact of Technology on Law

The exact combination will depend on the chosen learning pathway of each individual participant. After selecting their pathway, participants may then choose any other 3 modules for their electives.

Participants without legal training are required to take Module 1, in addition to the 3 core and 3 elective modules, in order to qualify for the full certificate. Module 1 is NOT recommended for those with legal training as it covers basic legal concepts.

SPEAKER

Rajesh is a prominent lawyer based in Singapore. He is an equity partner with Rajah & Tann where he also heads the technology, media and telecommunications practice. He has been advising clients on matters relating to cybersecurity, data protection, telecommunications, electronic commerce, IT contracts, digital forensics and digital media for over 20 years.

His clients include financial institutions, state governments, multinational corporations in the telecoms, computer hardware and software sectors, government-linked companies and statutory boards. On the regional front, Rajesh has been engaged by the ASEAN Secretariat to facilitate a pan-ASEAN forum on legislative and regulatory reforms to collectively address convergence of IT, telecoms and broadcasting across all 10 member countries, and by the Commonwealth Secretariat to co-lead an e-government capacity building exercise involving all member Caribbean nations. Rajesh is also the contributing author for the Singapore chapter of Sweet & Maxwell’s Data Protection Laws of the World since 2010. Rajesh has been cited as a leading TMT lawyer by all major legal ranking directories.