Speakers

Closing Debate | Tech Competency will Trump Legal Skills in Tomorrow’s Lawyer    

As technology reshapes the legal practice, a debate emerges: will technological competency overshadow traditional legal skills in defining the lawyer of the future? This debate examines the competing forces of automation, artificial intelligence, data-driven decision-making and digital client services, and whether these will become the dominant measure of professional capability. One side argues that mastering legal technology will be the decisive differentiator—enabling greater efficiency, accuracy, access to justice, and competitive advantage.

The opposing view contends that core legal reasoning, advocacy, ethics, negotiation and human judgment remain irreplaceable, and that technology is merely a tool to enhance, not replace, legal expertise. Through contrasting perspectives, this session challenges participants to consider where the real value of tomorrow’s lawyer will lie: in coding and computational fluency, or in timeless human skills that technology cannot replicate.

About Gary

Gary Beh is a corporate partner at Withers KhattarWong. He has experience in cross-border corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity/venture capital transactions, joint ventures, takeovers and corporate reorganisations.

Gary has advised both corporates and financial sponsors on a wide range of transactions, including those in the consumer, technology, financial services and energy and infrastructure sectors. His experience acting for clients across the full range of investments stages makes him an effective lawyer in providing solutions across a company’s growth cycle. He is consistently recognised in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific for his work in Corporate and M&A. Gary is also a member of the Corporate Practice Committee of the Law Society of Singapore.