SMU Yong Pung How School of Law

31/07/2026

[SMU Commencement 2026 🎓] Yesterday marked one of our favourite days of the year as celebrates the LLB, Juris Doctor and LLM Class of 2026! Congratulations to all our graduates—we're so proud of everything you've achieved and can't wait to see where your journeys take you next. 💜

The celebrations are still in session... and this is only the opening statement! Stay tuned over the next two weeks as we bring you more Commencement 2026 highlights, photos and videos. There's definitely more to come!


SMU Alumni

29/07/2026

congratulates our students on their achievements at the recent 𝘏𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘸 Cambridge 2026 Hackathon, held at the University of Cambridge. The Hackathon brought together interdisciplinary student teams to develop large language model-powered solutions for real-world legal challenges set by leading law firms and technology partners. Teams competed across challenge tracks presented by Clifford Chance, Linklaters, White & Case, CMS, Harvey, Legora and others, pitching their solutions through multiple rounds before the grand finale.

Representing SMU, Team SMU LIT placed second overall at the Hackathon and emerged winners of the Legora Challenge. The team comprised SMU Law students Max Ho, Francis Chua and Rajpreet Singh; together with Kelvin Chik (SMU SCIS). Their project, LexArena, is an AI-powered advocacy training platform that enables junior lawyers and law students to practise oral advocacy before a responsive AI judge or partner. The platform provides real-time questioning and structured feedback to help users strengthen their advocacy skills.

Team SMU LIT’s participation was made possible with the generous support of the Ministry of Law, Singapore. We are indeed grateful for this support in enabling our students to bring their legal and technological expertise to an international stage.

Separately, our year 3 LL.B. student Jamison Teng also achieved an impressive result as part of SIGMA TECH, which won the Clifford Chance Challenge. Jamison was the team’s sole SMU representative and served as its legal domain lead, working alongside teammates En Hao Tew and Qirui Huang (University of Cambridge), and Raphael Lim (National University of Singapore). The team developed Sigma, a system designed to support the supervision of legal AI agents. It routes legal tasks for AI, human or hybrid review according to their level of risk, while maintaining decision logs to support a law firm partner’s duty of supervision.

These achievements reflect the creativity, interdisciplinary thinking, and strong legal-technological capabilities of our students as they engage with the future of law and legal practice. The school would like to extend our sincere thanks to the Ministry of Law, Singapore for their support, and our faculty Asst Profs Jerrold Soh and Lim How Khang who provided their mentorship and guidance.

24/07/2026

Imagine sitting in a law school seminar and wondering, "What would it be like to stand at the front of the classroom one day?"

For 's Assoc Prof Kenny Chng, that quiet thought became reality.

From student, to Naval Officer, to postgraduate studies at Harvard and Oxford, Kenny's journey eventually led him back to SMU Yong Pung How School of Law—this time as a faculty member and the first SMU Law alumnus to be awarded tenure.

For Kenny, teaching is more than just about sharing knowledge. It is about helping students discover strengths they may not yet see in themselves, just as others once did for him.

His story is a reminder that the most meaningful journeys sometimes bring us back to where we started—with the opportunity to inspire and make a difference for the next generation.

23/07/2026

was pleased to host the roundtable on 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘈𝘐 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵, co-organised by SMU Centre for Digital Law and Meta as part of the inaugural Singapore Data Festival 2026.

The roundtable opened with remarks by SMUYPHSL’s Associate Provost (Research Governance) Prof Maartje De Visser. In her address, Prof De Visser reflected on the growing importance of AI governance as the use of, and reliance on, AI becomes increasingly embedded in society. She underscored that trust in AI should not be understood as a binary concept, but as a multifaceted and evolving condition that must be built, sustained, and restored over time.

The session was moderated by Stephy Kwan (Meta), and featured speakers from academia, government, legal practice, and industry, including Prof Wang Heng (SMUYPHSL), Lee Wan Sie (Infocomm Media Development Authority), Prof Hiroki Habuka (Kyoto University), Noboru Kitayama (Mori Hamada & Matsumoto), and Royce Wee (Meta).

We are grateful to Meta for the opportunity to co-host this timely roundtable at SMUYPHSL, and to all speakers and participants for their thoughtful contributions. Through such engagements, SMUYPHSL continues to advance critical conversations on digital law, governance, emerging technologies, and responsible innovation in Singapore and beyond.

22/07/2026

As conversations around lawyer well-being and career sustainability continue across the profession following the release of the Anthro-Law Society of Singapore Study, 's Assoc Prof Seow Hon Tan is contributing to this important dialogue through 'Staying in the Game', an empirical research project supported by a research grant from the Singapore Academy of Law.

Assoc Prof Tan’s study followed a cohort of young lawyers as they explored how small, intentional changes—supported by personalised coaching from lawyer-turned-life-coach Lim Su Ching—could help them reconnect their day-to-day work with their individual sense of purpose. From mentoring others to setting healthier boundaries and reflecting on what gives their work meaning, by the end of the program, participants unanimously thought that their participation facilitated their sense of growth and/or well-being.

Assoc Prof Tan's research underscores an important insight: building a more sustainable legal profession involves not only changes at institutional- and firm-levels, but also empowering lawyers to cultivate and actualize purpose and meaning throughout their careers. Her findings are scheduled to be presented next week at this year's Legal Profession Symposium on 29 July. We look forward to hearing more from Assoc Prof Tan’s impactful contribution to the future of the legal profession.

More Details here: https://bit.ly/4wWjRTM

Can small, intentional changes make a legal career feel more sustainable? That was the question behind "𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲", a pilot empirical study led by Associate Professor Seow Hon Tan from the SMU Yong Pung How School of Law and supported by a re...

21/07/2026

congratulates Asst Prof Aaron Yoong together with his co-authors Danny Ong SC and Yam Wern-Jhien from Setia Law, on the publication of their book 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘐𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦. The book also carries forewords from Deputy Attorney-General of Singapore Goh Yihan and Steven Gee KC, the latter being the author of the seminal text Commercial Injunctions.

Commercial injunctions sit at the frontlines of modern cross-border disputes — from freezing injunctions that preserve assets pending judgment, to anti-suit injunctions that protect jurisdiction and arbitration agreements, to confidentiality and proprietary relief. As Singapore has grown into a regional hub for finance, restructuring, and international dispute resolution, this area of law has taken on central importance, especially in novel contexts such as cryptocurrency and digital asset disputes. Increasingly one of the most powerful tools in a litigant’s arsenal, injunctions are given a structured, practical, and distinctly Singaporean treatment here — one that fills an important gap and looks set to become an invaluable resource for practitioners, judges, academics, and students alike.

The publication adds to ’s growing body of work in Dispute Resolution, a field closely tied to Singapore’s role as a leading centre for international commercial disputes. With its practical focus and Singapore-specific analysis, the book offers a valuable contribution to both legal scholarship and practice.

20/07/2026

July has been another busy month for mooters. First, in Sydney, our International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot team (Sarah Chan/Jing Le Ng/Sophia Kyra Nandwani/Kelly Thai/Alysson Wee/Chen Ling Koh) reached the championship final, our third such result in the competition. Secondly, in Colombo, our Victor Perera Moot team (Iman Nabilah Yasmeen Yunus/Dr May Leong/Zining Teo) also reached the championship final, SMU's sixth in a row in the competition. The Perera final represents SMU's 128th championship final across all international moot competitions since SMU mooters started competing internationally 15 years ago.

Director of Moots, Professor Chen Siyuan says the latest results are yet another reflection of the spirit of the SMU international moots community and the ecosystem supporting the students: "Aleksandar Georgiev'13, who as a student led SMU to our first of four Jessup world championship finals, has been overseeing our IMLAM teams for a decade. The reins have recently been given to Kenneth He'25, who was assisted by Bernadette Teo'25 this year. They both competed in IMLAM; Kenneth also won the Fletcher world championship and Bernadette assisted me in coaching SMU to the Lachs world championship. For the Perera team, Vinessa Martin'24 not only won the moot as a student, but has also done so as a coach before; and this year, her Vis and Jessup team mate, Amar Pandey'24, helped out with the final stretch. Our mooters are only as good as the support by our alumni who keep giving back.”

SMU students have the opportunity to participate in over 30 international moot competitions every year without financial burden thanks to the Ian R Taylor Memorial Fund, Providence Law Asia LLC, and the International Moots Alumni Group. The students receive unparalleled mentorship and coaching from a close community of more than 600 moot alumni. Learn more about our moots programme here:
https://vimeo.com/1033450668





Office of Alumni Relations

17/07/2026

✨ Friday Flashback! ✨

We're throwing it back to earlier this month when we officially welcomed our newest freshies at SMU Law Camp Kairos 2026! 🥳 From action-packed games and exciting challenges to unforgettable moments, endless cheers and an electrifying Finale Night, Kairos was the ultimate kick-off to law school life.

We hope our freshies left camp with new friendships, unforgettable memories and a true sense of what it means to be part of the family. 💜 Here's to an exciting journey ahead—we can't wait to see all that you'll achieve, and we're so excited to have you with us!

A huge shout-out to The Bar, our incredible Law Camp Organising Committee, OGLs and every volunteer whose passion, energy and hard work made Camp Kairos 2026 such an unforgettable experience. You made the magic happen! 🙌

17/07/2026

invites distinguished and aspiring scholars to apply for our tenure-track and non-tenure track academic appointments for the 2026-2027 academic year. Located in Singapore’s Central Business District, SMUYPHSL is home to a vibrant and diverse academic community committed to generating high-impact research and nurturing entrepreneurial legal leaders.

We welcome applications from highly motivated scholars across areas including private law, arbitration, comparative Asian law, corporate and securities law, criminal law, environmental and energy law, evidence and procedure, financial regulation and fintech, intellectual property law, labour and employment law, law and technology, maritime and admiralty law, and private international law.

Interested applicants may submit their application materials to 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐜𝐯@𝐬𝐦𝐮.𝐞𝐝𝐮.𝐬𝐠 by 𝟐𝟓 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and early applications are strongly encouraged.

For enquiries, please contact Assoc Prof Adeline Chong, Associate Dean (Faculty Matters), at [email protected] (Please quote reference number: YPHSL-PROF-2026-2027).

More information on YPHSL Academic Appointments: https://law.smu.edu.sg/about/careers/academic-appointments

14/07/2026

is pleased to share that Assoc Profs Warren Chik and Saw Cheng Lim recently published the second edition of 𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘓𝘢𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦, with the Singapore Academy of Law’s Academy Publishing.

Since the publication of the first edition in 2020, the policy and legal landscape surrounding information and communications technology have evolved significantly, shaped by developments such as the accelerated digitalisation of Singapore’s economy, the rise of generative artificial intelligence, and new legal frameworks addressing online harms, cybersecurity, data protection, and intellectual property.

This timely second edition provides an updated and comprehensive account of ICT law in Singapore as of 2025, offering readers a valuable primer on a fast-evolving field that continues to shape legal practice, policy, and society.

Through this publication, continues to contribute to important conversations on how the law responds to technological change, digital transformation, and the evolving challenges of Singapore’s ICT landscape.