Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon: Speech delivered at Mass Call 2024

MASS CALL ADDRESS 2024

The Legal Profession – A Community of Learned Friends

Monday, 19 August 2024

The Honourable the Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon

Supreme Court of Singapore

I. Introduction

1.             Good morning. Let me first congratulate each of you on your call to the Bar. This is a significant accomplishment and milestone that you and your loved ones should be very proud of.

2.             As Chief Justice, it is a great privilege for me to address our newest members of the profession each year. In recent years, I have taken this opportunity to discuss topics such as artificial intelligence (or “AI”),⁽¹⁾ the importance of lifelong learning,⁽²⁾ and the responsibilities of being a member of an honourable profession.⁽³⁾ Today, as you embark on your career as a lawyer, I propose to divide my remarks into two parts:

1. I will first share some reflections on the practice of law and how generative AI in particular will, in my view, bring about a paradigm shift in lawyering. There are a number of major changes affecting us but I focus on this because of the dramatic implications that it holds for us.
2. I will then outline some thoughts on how you can develop a sustainable career and I will also touch on the role of the wider legal community in this endeavour, in particular, in providing mentorship.

II. Reflections on the practice of law

3.             It is often said that a successful career in the law is more akin to a marathon than a sprint. We can derive several important points from this, such as the need to pace oneself, exercise patience and seize opportunities as they arise. But there is something else in this which I wish to focus on today and that is the fact that while most people can sprint, in the sense of moving at a faster pace than usual over a short distance, this just is not true of a marathon. Embarking on a marathon calls for hard work, focus and considerable determination. And like a marathon, devotion to the practice and craft of law ultimately calls for a long-term commitment, which while demanding much, also promises so much more.

A. The nature of the practice of law

4.             Let me acknowledge at the outset that ours is a demanding profession, and it is becoming more so. This is the case because of, among other things, mounting client expectations, an increasingly competitive legal market, and what has been described as the “constant connectivity” to work.⁽⁴⁾ Insofar as these developments have impacted the sustainability of legal practice, this is an issue that we are paying close attention to, and I will return to this later in my address.

5.             The demands that inhere in the practice of law are also driven in part by its multifaceted nature. As lawyers, your substantive legal knowledge and technical competencies – by which I mean forensic, communication and other legal skills – serve as the foundation for your work. But you will have to go beyond this by honing your ability to develop and build a practice, manage your client relationships, and understand your clients’ needs and perspectives so that you can become trusted advisors and effective problem solvers. And to truly excel in your craft, you will need to develop the capacity to generate creative and customised solutions that others may not have considered and that align with your client’s strategic interests.

6.             It should therefore not come as a surprise that achieving mastery in the law will demand hard work, dedication and resilience over the long haul. In reality, this pursuit of mastery of our craft represents a continuous and never-ending endeavour for those of us who have chosen the law as our life’s work.

B. A paradigm shift in lawyering

7.             While the basic points I have made thus far are not new, what is new is the emergence of changes in our operating environment that will significantly affect how we can continue to add value to our clients. Perhaps the most immediate and significant of these forces is the emergence of generative AI.

8.             At last year’s Mass Call, I discussed the impact of generative AI on legal systems, and focused on two main aspects: the creation of new legal tools and the emergence of new legal issues.⁽⁵⁾ A year on, I believe there is growing acceptance of the notion that generative AI will bring about a paradigm shift in lawyering, and that this is a development that we should all take seriously. It is now evident that AI will not only assist lawyers with basic legal tasks, but it even has the potential to outperform and thus to replace lawyers in certain areas. Generative AI may not only significantly enhance the efficiency of legal work, it may in some respects even raise its quality.

9.             Take the summarising of information for example. Earlier this year, in the context of the medical profession, researchers from Stanford University adapted eight large language models (or “LLMs”) to clinical text and tested their summarisation skills against those of medical experts. They found that most physicians preferred the AI-generated summaries over those created by humans, after evaluating these for completeness, correctness and conciseness.⁽⁶⁾ There is no reason to think that such LLMs will be any less capable when trained and deployed in the legal services sector. Indeed, we will soon be able to test this for ourselves when LawNet launches its very own LLM trained on legal data from Singapore next month.⁽⁷⁾ This new generative AI tool, jointly developed by the Singapore Academy of Law (or “SAL”) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority, will provide summaries of more than 15,000 unreported judgments on LawNet,⁽⁸⁾ and can potentially be used to summarise vast quantities of other materials. Crucially, it will feature in-built trust and safety features to mitigate the risks that are thought to inhere in AI-generated summaries. These include an accuracy score for each summary and the identification of corresponding paragraphs in the judgment to enable the user to cross-check the accuracy of the summaries.

10.             And AI promises to do so much more, in areas such as the production of documents, due diligence and document drafting, where significant progress has already been made. AI may even be capable of providing an assessment of the likely outcomes of litigated cases in at least some areas of law in Singapore, with products such as Lex Machina and Solomonic already being used in other jurisdictions. This in fact is one of the areas that we are exploring with Harvey, the AI startup behind the eponymous tool, to assist users in the Small Claims Tribunal.⁽⁹⁾

11.             In the light of these developments, our profession urgently needs to consider and assess the implications that AI will have on the practice of law. Let me highlight just two of these.

12.             To begin with, law firms will need to start looking to harness the power of AI to help in generating work products that can then be safely delivered to their clients with greater accuracy and speed and at less cost. This will entail more than just acquiring and rolling out the relevant technology. Lawyers will need to have at least a basic understanding of how the technology works and how they can effectively apply it in their daily work. To help in this regard, I am pleased to announce two initiatives that will soon be launched by the SAL, in partnership with Microsoft:⁽¹⁰⁾

1. First, a certified online foundational course on generative AI and prompt engineering that aims to provide lawyers with a broad understanding of AI, its applications in the legal context and some best practices for its safe and effective use.
2. Second, a prompt engineering guide that contains strategies for obtaining better results from LLMs. This guide will cover sample prompts that can be used in Microsoft Copilot, which incorporates generative AI capabilities into the entire suite of Office applications, such as Outlook, Word and PowerPoint.

13.             I strongly commend these initiatives to you, and indeed, to all members of the legal profession. Further details will be announced by the SAL after this morning’s proceedings.

14.             I turn to the training and development of junior lawyers which is another area in which AI will dramatically impact the practice of law. Traditionally, junior lawyers have been responsible for basic legal tasks such as document review, analysis and drafting. Indeed, this was one of the primary methods for developing technical competencies and basic lawyering skills.⁽¹¹⁾ However, we may soon find that such on-the-job training opportunities are scarce given the potential of AI to replace lawyers in these tasks. In this evolving landscape, there is a pressing need for us to think of new ways to train and develop our junior lawyers effectively.

15.             One such initiative is the Junior Lawyers Professional Certificate Programme (or “JLP”), which the SAL expects to launch in the second quarter of next year.⁽¹²⁾ The JLP comprises two tracks – the Disputes Track and the Corporate Track – and aims to equip those lawyers who have less than five years of post-qualification experience (“PQE”), with multifaceted practical skills that will be needed in both the disputes and the non-contentious corporate practice areas. It will also seek to impart management skills and reinforce principles of professional ethics.

16.             To give junior lawyers a preview of the JLP, the SAL organised two sessions focused on disputes work in July this year. Nearly 30 participants attended the two-day programme, which featured a combination of lectures and interactive activities that will be the hallmark of the JLP. Participants had the opportunity to hear directly from judicial officers, Senior Counsel and King’s Counsel, an experience they found both valuable and enriching. The feedback from these sessions will be very useful as the SAL prepares to launch the JLP next year, and I express my gratitude to the partners of the 26 law firms who sent their juniors for this preview. Our aim is to offer a programme that will set the industry standard for the holistic development of young lawyers, and I strongly encourage all of you to register and participate actively in this programme when it is launched next year.

C. Pro bono work

17.             The drive to develop our ability to cope with these new challenges cannot come at the expense of our core mission and purpose. This is and has always been an integral part of establishing a sustainable career in the law. In this context, I would like to emphasise once again the importance of undertaking pro bono work, which stands as one of the finest traditions of the Bar. For most of us who have chosen to study and practice law, we were driven by the sense of idealism and the promise of devoting ourselves to the service of justice. Pro bono work can fuel and sustain this idealism. Further, especially for junior lawyers, pro bono work can offer invaluable opportunities for developing one’s craft. Take court advocacy for example. As cases grow in complexity and value, some clients may prefer or even insist that senior lawyers handle their briefs. To address this, we have amended our Practice Directions to encourage senior lawyers to apprise their clients of the benefits of allocating certain advocacy tasks to junior counsel, and to require, unless the court otherwise orders, that junior counsel deliver the opening statement.⁽¹³⁾ But the most enriching learning experiences are often had when one is able to interact directly with the client while leading her case, and having the chance to make a real and tangible difference to her. This is where pro bono opportunities can prove to be exceptionally valuable.

18.             Aside from all this, pro bono work is a tangible demonstration of our profession’s commitment to serving the public good, by ensuring that justice is accessible to those most in need. This is why the pro bono efforts of the profession, which the Law Society is at the forefront of, is so highly valued. This commitment to serving the public good is now ingrained in the revised declaration for Advocates and Solicitors which each of you has just made today, and it arises out of a recommendation of the Ethics and Professional Standards Committee (“Ethics Committee” or “Committee”).

19.             I would like to take this opportunity to provide an update on the Committee’s work.

20.             The Committee was established last year to develop a strategy aimed at re-establishing the moral centre and values of our profession, and at fostering this among new entrants to our ranks. It studied a wide range of areas including ethical formation, the importance of inculcating a sense of vocation and purpose, and the training and formation of new lawyers. The Committee has already completed its Interim Report which contains recommendations that may be divided into three main strands:⁽¹⁴⁾

1. first, to build ethos throughout the profession by inculcating values and habits that exemplify the practice of law as an honourable profession;
2. second, to instil consistent and pervasive learning of ethics and professional standards; and
3. third, to ensure that lawyers receive reinforcing layers of mentoring throughout their careers.

21.             Some of the Committee’s recommendations have since been implemented, such as the Law Society’s Ethics Assist Helpline that you have just heard about from Ms Sam, which provides a less formal mechanism for lawyers to receive guidance on ethical issues that may arise from time to time, as well as the revised Code of Practice for the Conduct of Criminal Proceedings by the Prosecution and the Defence. Other recommendations that have been implemented include the introduction of a pledge for law students, the embedding of ethics into university courses, and the creation of a protocol for law firms to familiarise their interns with the application of ethical obligations in legal practice.

22.             The Committee has done more work over the last few months as it develops its final recommendations. To co-create solutions with the legal community, it has conducted a series of focus groups involving lawyers of all seniorities and from firms of all sizes, as well as with their managing partners. Its final recommendations will be released in due course, and this will include recommendations to ensure that our working environments are safe and sustainable especially for those new to practice. The sustainability of legal practice is an issue of critical importance because it affects not just the maintenance of high professional standards and hence the quality of legal services provided to the public, but perhaps more importantly, also the profession’s ability to attract, retain and develop talent, which is essential to the proper functioning of our justice system.

23.             I am deeply grateful to the Committee, led by my colleague, Justice Valerie Thean, and her co-chair, Mr Jimmy Yim SC, who are both here this morning, for the immense effort that has gone into the work of the Committee, and you are among the first beneficiaries of several of their recommendations. As I mentioned earlier, this includes the revised declaration, which the Committee considered should be expanded to incorporate and emphasise the key aspect of our mission to serve the public good, highlighting this as a defining aspect of your vocation as Advocates and Solicitors. As the first batch of lawyers to make this new declaration, I urge you to hold close to these words as you embark on your career as a lawyer.⁽¹⁵⁾

III. The legal profession as a community

24.             This commitment to service is a defining feature of our profession and it brings me to the role and importance of community in the legal profession. To sustain a long-term career in the law, it will also be important to build strong and robust relationships with fellow members of the profession, including your seniors, peers and, in time to come, your juniors.

A. Mentorship

25.             A key aspect of the concept of a community in this regard is mentorship. Mentorship is an essential part of a lawyer’s formation that all junior lawyers should actively cultivate and demand. Mentorship has always been a vital element of the training and development of young lawyers, serving as a bridge between legal education and practice. This is evident even today in our supervising solicitor regime. In a recent decision, the Court of Three Judges emphasised that “[t]rainees depend on their supervising solicitors to acquire the values, competencies and skills necessary to become members of a noble and honourable profession”.⁽¹⁶⁾

26.             This underscores the importance of mentorship in the legal profession, in at least two ways. First, mentors play a crucial role in the professional development of our younger colleagues by facilitating the transmission of skills. And next, and perhaps more importantly, through their conduct, mentors serve as role models to junior lawyers, helping them internalise the profession’s values and best traditions. Beyond this, mentors play a pivotal role in so many other areas, such as in providing career or ethical guidance.

27.             But recognising that our younger colleagues need mentorship means that we must ensure there is a pool of ready and able mentors who are committed to discharging this important role. This is an area that the profession as a whole needs to work on. In a survey conducted last year of more than 500 lawyers who had between 2 to 10 years of PQE, we found that while an overwhelming majority regarded mentorship as a key enabler to a conducive working environment, only one in ten had participated in a structured mentorship programme.⁽¹⁷⁾ We can and must do better.

28.             Of course, mentoring relationships can develop informally or organically. But if we all accept the clear benefits of having a trusted mentor, then we should not leave this to chance. Instead, we should direct our attention to designing structured programmes that allow such mentoring relationships to flourish.

29.             This is an area that the Ethics Committee is currently looking into, and the Committee’s further recommendations will include the following initiatives:

1. first, developing a suggested syllabus for a structured mentoring programme that law firms can adapt for their use; and
2. second, providing law firms with the resources to administer mentor training programmes. This recognises the reality that we cannot assume that all lawyers are equipped to be effective mentors, and therefore, we must be intentional about training prospective mentors.

30.             With these initiatives, it is hoped that more law firms will be able to establish their own structured mentorship programmes. These programmes will then complement the mentorship schemes that are externally run and which aim to connect mentees with mentors from beyond their immediate workplace. As you have heard from Ms Sam, one example is the remodelled Law Society Mentorship Scheme, which recently completed its first run.⁽¹⁸⁾

31.             Ultimately, the success of these new initiatives and recommendations will depend on the willingness of senior lawyers to take up the mantle as mentors, and I therefore reiterate my call to the profession to respond to this urgent need.

B. Relationship with fellow members of the profession

32.             As I approach the end of my address, let me also say a few words about the importance of developing strong relationships within the profession. As lawyers, we have a professional duty to treat one another with courtesy and respect.⁽¹⁹⁾ This duty stems from the practice of law as an honourable profession amongst learned friends. This attitude of mutual respect is essential for upholding the dignity and standing of our profession. It is therefore timely that the SAL is launching an updated version of “A Civil Practice – Good Counsel for Learned Friends” today, and you will all receive a copy of this book which has now been produced in the format of a reflection journal.⁽²⁰⁾ It will provide practical guidance on professional courtesy and etiquette, both inside and outside the courtroom, and I urge you not only to study its contents carefully, but also to use it as a companion for reflecting on what it means to be a member of this honourable profession.

33.             Beyond promoting civility, we should also strive for greater camaraderie in our workplaces and in the wider profession. Although we live in a world of hyperconnectivity, many in our communities, and especially our youth, find themselves more socially isolated, in what has been described as an “epidemic of loneliness”.⁽²¹⁾ We should do whatever we can to reverse this trend. Especially for a profession that is intensely demanding, it is important to have friends, colleagues and peers we can lean on when the going gets tough. I therefore encourage you to actively seek out your own community of support that you can rely on as you journey through the law. There are numerous opportunities available for you to connect with other legal professionals, such as by getting involved in the many activities and committees of the Law Society and the SAL.

IV. Conclusion

34.             In today’s address, I have shared some reflections on the evolving practice of law and our commitment to supporting you through this journey. Much like a marathon, the practice of law demands unwavering perseverance and resilience. While there will undoubtedly be challenges, you will be able to draw upon the guidance of your mentors and the support of your wider network, in the same way that marathon runners rely on their coaches and their teammates. And it will be well worth all that effort because this profession promises great fulfilment and purpose for those who stay the course and finish the race.

35.             Let me close by taking this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the families, especially the parents, of our newly called members. Today’s ceremony marks the formal commencement of your children’s careers in the law, and it is also a testament to your unwavering support and guidance. Your contributions have been invaluable, and this day is as much yours as it is theirs. The legal profession is indebted to you for your dedication and the countless sacrifices that you have each made.

36.             To the newest members of our profession, let me once again, on behalf of the Judiciary and the legal profession, extend a very warm welcome to all of you. My best wishes go out to each of you for a successful and fulfilling career, and I look forward to all your many achievements and contributions to the advancement of this noble profession in the years to come.

37.             The court is now adjourned.

_{(1)       See Sundaresh Menon CJ, Mass Call Address 2023, “Answering the Call in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” (21 August 2023) (“Mass Call Address 2023”).
(2)       See Sundaresh Menon CJ, Mass Call Address 2019, “A Profession of Learners” (27 August 2019).
(3)       See Sundaresh Menon CJ, Mass Call Address 2022, “The Legal Profession as an Honourable Profession” (23 August 2022).
(4)       See Judy Wajcman and Emily Rose, “Constant Connectivity: Rethinking Interruptions at Work” (2011) 32(7) Organization Studies 941-961.
(5)       See Mass Call Address 2023; see also Sundaresh Menon CJ, Keynote Speech at the Inaugural Singapore-India Conference on Technology, “Judicial Responsibility in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” (13 April 2024); and Sundaresh Menon CJ, Keynote Address at the 3rd Annual France-Singapore Symposium on Law and Business, “Legal Systems in a Digital Age: Pursuing the Next Frontier” (11 May 2023).
(6)       See Dave Van Veen et al, “Adapted Large Language Models Can Outperform Medical Experts in Clinical Text Summarization” (2024) 30 Nature Medicine 1134-1142.
(7)       This tool will be launched at TechLaw.Fest, which will be held on 11 and 12 September 2024.
(8)       See Singapore Academy of Law, “Faster, More Efficient Legal Research from September” (31 May 2024) https://www.sal.org.sg/blog/2024-GPT-Legal-ATxSG-IMDA-AISG.
(9)       See Sundaresh Menon CJ, Response Delivered at the Opening of the Legal Year 2024 (8 January 2024) at para 34.
(10)       These initiatives will be launched at TechLaw.Fest 2024 on 11-12 September 2024.
(11)       See Sundaresh Menon CJ, Welcome Address at the SAL 35th Anniversary Dinner (22 November 2023) at para 9.
(12)       Details on the JLP can be found at https://www.sal.org.sg/jlp.
(13)       See paragraphs 96(4) and (5) of the Supreme Court Practice Directions 2021.
(14)       Interim Report of the Ethics and Professional Standards Committee at para 32.
(15)       See the First Schedule of the Legal Profession (Admission) Rules 2011, as amended by the Legal Profession (Admission) (Amendment No. 3) Rules 2024.
(16)       See Law Society of Singapore v Clarence Lun Yaodong [2023] 4 SLR 638 at [49].
(17)       Interim Report of the Ethics and Professional Standards Committee at para 26d.
(18)       For more details on the Law Society Mentorship Scheme, see https://www.lawsociety.org.sg/the-law-society/support-schemes/mentorship/.
(19)       See Rule 4(f), Rule 7 and Rule 13 of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015.
(20)       Singapore Academy of Law, “A Civil Practice – Good Counsel for Learned Friends” (2nd Edition, 2024).
(21)       See TODAY, “Youths in Singapore More Likely to Report Higher Levels of Social Isolation and Loneliness: IPS Poll” (29 January 2024).}