Singapore Sets Up SCALE Council to Guide AI Adoption in the Legal Sector

Singapore's legal profession is taking a structured approach to artificial intelligence. At the Legal Profession Symposium 2026 on July 29, Law Minister Edwin Tong announced the formation of the Singapore Council on AI for Legal Excellence (SCALE) — a new body that will bring together leaders from law firms, academia, technology companies, in-house legal teams, and the public sector to build an evidence-based understanding of how AI is reshaping legal work.

SCALE will operate under the Future of the Legal Profession Committee (FLPC), which is co-chaired by Justice of the Court of Appeal Hri Kumar Nair, Deputy Attorney-General Valerie Thean, and Ministry of Law Permanent Secretary Luke Goh. The council's mandate is not to produce broad AI guidelines but to develop sector-specific frameworks: how AI agents can assist with discovery and contract review, what governance structures firms need when deploying large language models, and how the economics of legal practice changes when routine tasks become automated.

The announcement came alongside broader reforms. Tong said his ministry will undertake a review of legal education, floating the idea of law students spending one or two semesters in a legal setting before entering practice. His ministry is also considering a Legal Profession Sustainability Guide modelled after the GenAI Guide — a practical document that would set out professional norms and workplace behaviours through real examples. On mentorship, Tong was direct: "Mentoring is not simply something experienced lawyers do if they have time. It is a professional obligation."

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, speaking at the same symposium, framed the sustainability question as a rule of law concern. He identified five interconnected pressures — work intensity, billable-hour incentive structures, workplace culture, gaps in leadership and mentorship, and a generational divide — and questioned whether the billable hours model remains relevant "in the age of AI." Menon warned that chronic stress and burnout could push lawyers out of the profession entirely, and that a justice system cannot remain strong if the profession on which it depends is unable to sustain meaningful careers.

Why it matters for Singapore: SCALE positions Singapore's legal sector as one of the first in the world to formally reckon with AI at an institutional level. With only 6,400 Singapore-qualified lawyers serving a jurisdiction that is the second-most preferred seat of arbitration globally, the profession cannot afford to lose talent to burnout or irrelevance. SCALE's work — combined with the legal education review and the sustainability guide — signals that Singapore is treating AI not as a replacement for lawyers but as a force that demands deliberate restructuring of training, workplace culture, and business models. The council's findings will likely shape how other regulated professions in Singapore — accounting, medicine, architecture — approach their own AI transitions.