CFRED’s 12th LegalTech Seminar- Machine Learning and the Challenges of Digital Transformation in the Law by Mr. Sebastian Ko (Online)

The adoption of machine-learning (a form of artificial intelligence) by lawyers is shaping the future of law –as a profession and institution. Today, pockets of practice and traditional workflows have undergone massive transformation, viz. legal research and document reviews in discovery, regulatory disclosures, M&A, and contract management. Many alternative legal services providers, “legaltech” vendors, and other “NewLaw” businesses were born in the 2010s. Yet, truly full-service “robo-lawyers” are nowhere in sight. This seminar will examine –from a legaltech industry perspective– the technological influences on emerging industry trends, including the applications of analytics and natural language processing. The discussion will focus on how software encodes the law and legal processes in software, the related technological and ethical challenges, and the adoption barriers in legal practice.

About the speaker:
Sebastian Ko is a lawtech and regtech expert. He is chairman of the InnoTech Law Hub, the Law Society of Hong Kong, and member of the MIT Technology Review Global Panel. He was formerly senior legal counsel and Asia regional director at a leading legaltech company. Previously, he practised financial regulatory law and commercial dispute resolution at international law firms. He also led organization of the first Access to Justice Hackathon in Asia, and is an author of The RegTech Book and The LegalTech Book (both Wiley). He holds degrees in science and law, including the Bachelor of Civil Law (Oxon), and is legally qualified in Hong Kong, New York and at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Moderator: Dr. Mahdi H. Miraz, CUHK LAW