At first glance, this year’s Hackathon for a Better World doesn’t seem like a typical hackathon. The 42 participating teams — a record for the competition — bring together deep legal expertise with perspectives adjacent to law, including banking, technology, consulting, risk, operations, ethics and compliance, and entrepreneurship.
The importance of that diversity was noted by Justice Hri Kumar Nair at the hackathon’s kick-off in April. “The wisdom of crowds has shown that the collective opinion of a diverse and independent group of people … yields the best judgment,” he said.
For the aptly named Law and Reorder team, which comprises a vice-president from DBS Bank’s legal and compliance team (Ms Trina Swee), a U/X designer (Ms Amanda Swee) and the director of a management consultancy (Mr Ryan Wong), the appeal of the Hackathon lay in the complexity of the challenge they chose to address: the sustainability of the legal profession.
“The nature of this problem is multifaceted,” the team said. “So the solutions we’re examining range from granular to systemic. Frankly at this point, it’s not clear what would be the best fit, so we’re still working on it from multiple angles.”
Even among teams made up of mainly lawyers, diversity comes through in other ways. Some members are from different law firms, while others brought experience beyond legal practice, including entrepreneurship. Team Nova reflects this mix as Mr Shaun Leong and Mr Theodore Ang are from Holman Fenwick Willan LLP, while Mr Frederick Tay represents Joyce A. Tan & Partners; and the team’s fourth member, Mr Kit Ng, is a lawyer-turned entrepreneur.
Why They Joined
Among the hackathon’s draws is the opportunity it presents to step outside familiar professional circles and test ideas with people one might not otherwise work with.
For Team Re:Think@RT, the focus was on improving cross-border collaboration between lawyers across jurisdictions. “As part of the Rajah & Tann Asia network, we see first-hand the complexities of cross-border work and finding the right expertise across jurisdictions,” the team said. “We hope to bring these insights into a practical solution that improves how lawyers connect and collaborate regionally.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Law’s NextGen Legal team saw the Hackathon as a chance to explore how AI could be implemented responsibly within legal workflows. “We wanted to move beyond incremental improvements and focus on solving real friction points that impact day-to-day legal and administrative workflows,” said the team, which represents the Ministry’s Information Technology Division.
Together, the teams demonstrate the purpose of the Hackathon. Beyond generating new ideas, it is also a space for members of the legal ecosystem and those working alongside it, to meet, challenge assumptions and explore practical ways to make the profession more connected, resilient and future-ready.
Participants will showcase their solutions at a walkabout on 6 July 2026. The event is open to all.
Hackathon for a Better World 2026 is co-organised by SAL, DBS Bank and SG Courts.