Technology and data as lawyers’ allies: From data to insights

• Main Authors: CHANG, Zi Qian, KOH, Edmund, SOH, Jerrold, FAN, Bu
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2017
• Subjects: Legal Profession; Technology and Innovation
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2781; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/4739/viewcontent/Technology_and_Data.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

A lawyer’s tools of the trade were his law books. In those days, a firm’s library was very manageable. There were few commentaries and the text of the law – cases and legislation – were self-contained. Local case law that was reported took up only a volume each year in the Malayan Law Journal. Older firms may have had the early Kyshe’s law reports. Statutes were contained in four volumes – DK Walters, who had written the definitive commentary on Municipal Ordinances, was published in one volume. Roland Braddell’s ‘The Law of the Straits Settlements’ was another volume. For a litigator, there was the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Evidence Act, the same volumes used by lawyers.