Welcome Remarks by The Honourable Justice Aidan Xu
Opening of TechLaw.Fest 2025
Wednesday, 10 September 2025
1. Good morning.
2. It is my great pleasure to welcome all of you from Singapore and around the world to TechLaw.Fest 2025. This year’s event is an important milestone. This is the 10th anniversary of what is now Asia’s leading legal technology event.
3. In that span of time TechLaw.Fest has celebrated and fostered innovation, collaboration, and impact at the intersection of law, technology, and policy. We believe that Techlaw.Fest has contributed greatly to the vibrancy and energy of legal technology and technology practice in Singapore and the region.
A Decade of Transformation
4. TechLaw.Fest traces its roots to 2011, when the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) hosted the International Conference on Electronic Litigation. That pioneering effort laid the foundation for what would evolve into a global platform of thought leadership and digital governance. Since its inaugural launch in 2018, TechLaw.Fest has convened over 22,000 attendees from more than 100 countries, uniting policymakers, legal professionals, technologists, entrepreneurs, academics, and regulators in shaping the future of law in a digital age.
5. From the start, TechLaw.Fest distinguished itself. The 2018 edition featured one of Southeast Asia’s largest legal tech hackathons, masterclasses by progressive law firms, and a startup competition that spotlighted innovation in legal services.
6. Since then, we’ve engaged with frontier issues — from smart contracts and crypto assets to data sovereignty, blockchain, cybersecurity, complexities of data privacy, the metaverse and the AI revolution.
7. In 2020 and 2021, amidst a global pandemic, TechLaw.Fest pivoted fully online. Despite the impact of the pandemic restrictions in 2020, more than 6,000 participants from over 100 jurisdictions took part in five days of virtual discussions, featuring tech giants like Alibaba and Google alongside local and international law firms.
8. We have over the years, various notable speakers including Andrew Arruda, co-founder of ROSS Intelligence; Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web; and Dr Ian Walden, a leading authority on information and communications law, as well as trailblazers such as Arthur Sychov, CEO of Somnium Space Madaline Zannes, who was among the first lawyers to establish a virtual practice in the metaverse; and Arif Khan, whose work with AI-powered NFTs challenged conventional notions of identity and ownership.
9. Through it all, TechLaw.Fest has stayed true to its mission; not just to showcase innovation, but to drive adoption, raise capability, and promote collaboration across the legal tech ecosystem.
A Platform with Purpose
10. At its heart, TechLaw.Fest is mission-driven:
• To accelerate the adoption of legal technology across law firms and legal departments;
• To equip professionals with the skills and tools to thrive in a digital-first world;
• To grow and connect the legal tech provider market — especially startups and SMEs;
• And to amplify thought leadership that influences both the law of technology, and the technology of law.
11. Singapore, through the Singapore Academy of Law and the Ministry of Law, has consistently demonstrated leadership in this domain. Together, we have nurtured a legal community that is bold, adaptable, and open to transformation.
From Annual Event to Year-Long Movement
12. Today, TechLaw.Fest is more than a conference — it is a year-long platform for global engagement and exchange.
13. In just the past 18 months, we have launched TLF node events across Asia to deepen regional collaboration including four overseas mission trips to key legal innovation hubs — including New Delhi, Shenzhen, and London.
14. In 2024, we saw:
• In-person attendance double over the previous year.
• International participation more than triple; and
• And 55 exhibitors and sponsors — including 25 legal tech startups, 41 of whom joined us for the first time.
15. TechLaw.Fest 2024 was also the platform for key national announcements, including:
• The launch of Copilot for Singapore law firms, integrating generative AI into legal workflows via the Legal Technology Platform;
• The introduction of a Prompt Engineering Guide for Lawyers, developed by SAL and Microsoft;
• And Singapore’s adoption of an e-Apostille service, placing us among the first countries to digitally authenticate public documents.
16. This e-Apostille service, developed jointly by SAL and IMDA using the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Verifiable Credentials standards, promises to pave the way for faster, more efficient and more secure transactions.
17. Singapore began issuing e-Apostilles on 19 June 2025. These may be requested for documents issued by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), such as Business Profiles and Certificates of Incorporation or Registration.
18. This makes Singapore one of the first countries in the world to implement the e-Apostille using W3C’s open and interoperable standards, aligning fully with the Hague Apostille Convention and positioning us at the forefront of global efforts to modernise and secure cross-border legal documentation.
19. I would like to take this opportunity to thank ACRA for partnering with us to enable the direct issuance of these documents through the e-Apostille platform, making the notarisation and legalisation process far more seamless and efficient.
20. By the end of this year, this service will expand to include all notarised documents. Members of the public will be able to request an e-Apostille directly from a notary public, without needing to visit SAL’s office. SAL will verify the e-notarised document, generate and attach the e-Apostille, and email the final verified version directly to the applicant.
21. Recipients can easily verify the authenticity of these documents through the SAL Legalisation Portal, bringing enhanced speed, convenience, and security.
22. Given that notarised documents make up more than 80% of all documents legalised by SAL, this initiative will benefit both businesses and individuals, by reducing turnaround time and administrative effort — all while maintaining robust authentication standards.
23. We encourage all of you to onboard the e-Apostille platform as we move toward a more digitally integrated and business-friendly legal ecosystem.
What to Expect in 2025
24. Turning then to what this year’s event will cover, this year’s edition is our biggest and boldest yet. Under the theme “Reimagining Legal in the Digital Age”, TechLaw.Fest 2025 will tackle the most pressing issues facing legal systems in a world of accelerating change.
25. We welcome:
• More than 2,000 delegates from over 20 countries;
• Close to 200 speakers across main stage keynotes, roundtables, Tech Talks, and Tech Bytes stages;
• More than 50 sponsors and exhibitors across two vibrant exhibition halls;
• And, once again, our signature Day 0 immersion giving participants a hands-on experience of Singapore’s legaltech ecosystem through curated site visits.
26. We will explore topics such as:
• AI governance and regulation – How can we build systems that are transparent, fair, and accountable?
• Online safety and trust – How do we manage misinformation, cyber harms, and digital abuse?
• Access to justice – How can technology close the justice gap and ensure no one is left behind?
• Digital infrastructure, crypto regulation, and ESG concerns in technology – How do we navigate an increasingly multipolar digital ecosystem?
Looking Ahead: A Shared Responsibility
27. What we also hope to emphasise in this event is the importance of the people involved.
28. Technology may be the enabler, but it is people who are the stewards. People like all of you, gathered here today, will determine whether innovation serves justice or merely efficiency; whether it builds trust, or erodes it.
29. TechLaw.Fest is more than a forum. It is a call to action; to challenge assumptions, forge alliances, and co-create solutions for the future of law.
30. As we mark this 10th anniversary, let us look ahead with ambition and resolve. Let us build a legal system that is inclusive, ethical, and future-ready — one that moves at the speed of innovation while holding fast to the values of justice.
31. On that note, I wish you a thought-provoking, and inspiring conference.
32. Thank you.