We are at the halfway point of 2025, which is an opportune moment to pause, reflect, and reassess your goals as a legal professional. 

Whether you are a senior associate, in-house counsel, or running your own firm, the legal landscape is always evolving and placing higher and more complex expectations on lawyers. With the legal industry moving faster than ever, it is critical that you plan, adapt, and position yourself for what is ahead. Innovation is no longer optional, and staying still means falling behind.

So how do you future-proof your legal career as we move into the second half of the year? This article outlines key areas of growth and will equip you with practical strategies and helpful resources from the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) to help you stay ahead of the curve.

1. Plan Ahead for Your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) – Before the Year-End Rush

Under Singapore’s CPD framework, most legal professionals are required to complete up to 16 CPD points per year. But by December, calendars get packed, and the last-minute scrambling to meet the required points is all too familiar to lawyers. 

Now is the perfect time to take stock, log in to your ePortfolio under the Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE), and review your progress. How many hours have you completed? Are you short on CPD hours, and are there topics that are not just CDP-eligible, but directly relevant to your practice goals?

Think beyond the basics and use CPD strategically to level up in emerging areas like:

• Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its legal implications
• Legal operations and innovation
• Business strategy for lawyers

At SAL, we offer a range of SILE-accredited CPD activities suitable for lawyers at all stages of their careers. 

One such programme is the Group Career Coaching Workshop due to be held on 22 August 2025. This 2-day session will help you identify your personal purpose and motivations as a legal professional and guide you in charting a long-term career path. 

Here, you will find the tools and structure you need to evaluate and align your career with what matters most to you, both as a person and a professional. 

2. Expand Your Edge with Future-Focused Learning 

In today’s fast-evolving legal landscape, technical knowledge no longer cuts it. Clients and employers expect lawyers who can bridge legal expertise with cross-disciplinary insight and technological fluency. 

Have clients begun asking about GenAI in legal workflows? Are sustainability disclosures or ESG-linked regulations becoming part of your conversations? Maybe you have noticed your law firms or legal departments adopting new platforms or legaltech tools to streamline operations too.

The second half of 2025 could be the ideal time to build new capabilities by not only staying relevant but also leading these changes. SAL’s comprehensive programmes are designed to help you do just that, equipping lawyers with the skills to thrive in an increasingly complex and digital legal world.

Consider being part of our Legal Innovation Workshop in September 2025, where you will dive into:

• How GenAI is reshaping legal workflows
• What digital transformation looks like for law firms and even legal departments today
• Case studies from Singapore and beyond on how legal teams are using technological innovation tools to boost efficiency and improve client experience.  

Whether you are aiming to future-proof your practice or simply stay one step ahead of your peers, now is the time to invest in the knowledge and skills that will set you apart. We welcome you to stay updated on our upcoming courses, workshops, webinars, and more on SAL’s 2025 Event Calendar. 

3. Sharpen Your Thinking with Quality Legal Content

Workshops and courses are important, but the real professional growth also happens in quiet moments, while reading a recent judgment over coffee, glancing through the latest regulatory update, or reflecting on a thought-provoking legal commentary.

Staying informed is not just about keeping up, but is also about staying sharp. Lawyers who consistently engage with quality content are better positioned to spot risks and trends early, make stronger, more strategic decisions, and provide clients with timely and well-rounded advice.

In addition, reading helps reinforce technical foundations, challenge assumptions, and expand your perspective beyond your current practice area or legal role. 

To make this seamless for you, SAL publishes a wide range of authoritative titles and journals,  trusted by practitioners and academics alike. Whether you are looking for deep legal analysis or practical guidance, our resources are go-to companions for staying ahead as future-ready legal professionals.  

A selection of our titles, available in both physical and digital formats, includes: 

• Law and Technology in Singapore: A primer for both students and professionals on the impact of technology on the country’s laws, including the legal conundrums tech presents in an increasingly digitised society.
• Marriage, Spouses and Assets: An in-depth exploration of the development of family law in Singapore, encompassing aspects such as property rights and asset division.
• Mental Capacity Act in Singapore: Law and Practice: A commentary on the Singapore Mental Capacity Act 2008 (2020 Rev Ed) (“MCA”) and key considerations that the nation’s ageing and mentally disabled populations still face. 
• Modern Law of Copyright in Singapore: This volume offers a comprehensive guide to Singapore’s copyright framework, with a focus on how the law applies to modern media formats such as podcasts and other digital sound recordings. 

As a SAL member, you will have access to exclusive discounts on our full catalogue of legal publications. 

4. Strengthen Your Career with SAL’s Proprietary Tools

Whether you are in the early years of practice, making a mid-career shift, or aiming to deepen your expertise in a niche area, having the right support structures can make all the difference.

SAL’s Legal Industry Framework for Training and Education (LIFTED) is one such supporting resource for legal professionals in Singapore. The suite of services under the LIFTED banner is designed to guide legal professionals throughout their careers, on any legal path.

Some of the resources you will find through LIFTED include:

• Lexplorer: The SAL Career Navigator

A framework to assess your current skills, knowledge and career path. You can also leverage one-on-one career coaching sessions and develop a range of competencies depending on your goals as a legal professional. 

• Skills Map

Map your existing skillset against your current and desired roles within the legal profession. This tool will give you a detailed picture of the core tasks and required technical and soft skills for various senior positions. You can then begin developing a focused, step-by-step plan to bridge any gaps and progress confidently toward your career goals.

• Access to Mental Health Support

As part of LIFTED’s resources to help legal professionals perform better at work, SAL offers our members a mental health and wellness insurance scheme developed with Singlife. This package includes 3 clinical counselling sessions a year, a 24/7 distress helpline, and a self-care app. 

This initiative underscores SAL’s commitment to supporting the overall well-being of legal professionals, recognising that mental health is an essential component of long-term career sustainability.

Chart Your Career Course with Confidence

The second half of 2025 is the perfect time to reflect and take meaningful steps toward your professional goals, and SAL is here to support you along the way. 

From accredited CPD courses to legal publications and career development platforms, SAL offers a robust, year-round ecosystem to future-proof your legal profession.

Contact us today to find out more about member-exclusive benefits.

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