S$2.8m scheme to help law firms boost productivity through technology

SINGAPORE — To get small- and medium-sized law firms started on tech solutions that improve productivity, a S$2.8 million grant scheme was launched yesterday, providing up to 70 per cent off their new purchases in the first year.

The Tech Start for Law scheme, launched on Monday (Feb 27) by the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) the Law Society (LawSoc) and Spring Singapore, can be tapped for procuring knowledge management systems, online legal research tools and online marketing tools. Such software costs between S$3,000 and S$30,000 at the start, and incur a monthly fee.

Currently, there are five such eligible programs, but more could be added based on feedback from early adopters, said MinLaw and LawSoc. Each firm can tap the grant for up to three of the programs.

The move — following a LawSoc survey showing that fewer than one in 10 small- and medium-sized firms use any kind of tech productivity software — is in line with a push for more widespread digitisation within the legal sector, as announced during the opening of this legal year last month.

Speaking to the media after a briefing on the scheme, Minister for Law K Shanmugam said the legal profession, like all other sectors, needs to invest in “quality manpower and technology” to stay ahead.

“The big law firms can do that, some of them are doing it, but if you look at the smaller law firms, they may not have the resources ... So we thought it’d be good if the Government can come in and support ... identify the technology products, work with stakeholders (to) try and put it to the law firms ... That will make them more competitive,” he added.

LawSoc president Gregory Vijayendran acknowledged that apart from cost, smaller firms may be apprehensive to changes that come with adopting technology.

“It’s going to be hard to change some habits, especially if we have been practicing in a certain way for a long time ... That status quo, and perhaps inertia, will not be easy for (some) individuals,” he said.

Agreeing, lawyers TODAY spoke to said it is a challenge to get everyone on board the digital wave even if it would be more productive to do so and saves them the trouble of lugging hefty case files around.

Said Mr Amolat Singh: “Lawyers tend to look over their shoulders, continue doing things the way they have done before ... Some also feel reluctant to subscribe to databases which they don’t frequently use.”

Still, Mr Singh, who founded Amolat & Partners, said his firm is in the midst of converting all its physical files to digital copies. 

“We used to store all our physical files in a warehouse due to the sheer number ... In due time, we will convert to (using) soft copies, which are easier to share and update. It took us a while to adapt.”

Noting that lawyers are “creatures of habit”, Mr Alfred Lim from Quahe Woo & Palmer said: “For hearings, we still prefer hard copies as this was how we were trained.”

Criminal lawyer Ramesh Tiwary said there are limits to what processes can be digitised. “We still have to go to court to present submissions in physical copies ... But (tech) is very good for research and keeping records — saves a lot of time and space.”

Intellectual property lawyer Mark Teng, who is keen on getting his firm on board a knowledge management system, noted the difficulties of “convincing other lawyers within the firm”.

“Lawyers always look at the opportunity costs. Adopting new technology means we need to spend time teaching lawyers, and they need to get used to new processes ... The time spent could translate to S$X per hour handling a client’s matter,” said the lawyer at Infinitus Law Corporation.