Law Minister, CJ to co-lead panel looking into lawyer attrition rates and impact of Al

They will set its direction to help the legal profession meet such challenges

- Selina Lum Senior Law Correspondent

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon (centre) presiding over the annual ceremony to mark the opening of the legal year at the Supreme Court auditorium on Jan 12. Generative artificial intelligence is challenging a rethink of the function of a lawyer and the nature of legal work, he said. While AI tools can help lawyers, they risk compromising the development of foundational skills such as legal research, analysis, drafting and reasoning. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

(LIANHE ZAOBAO)

In surveys of newly minted lawyers in 2024 and 2025, around 60 per cent of respondents said they were likely to leave legal practice in the next five years.

The commonly cited reasons were excessive workload or poor work-life balance, a higher salary or compensation package elsewhere, the impact work had on their mental well-being, a lack of flexibility in their working arrangements and poor workplace culture.

To address this, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said on Jan 12 that he and Law Minister Edwin Tong will co-lead in setting the direction of a committee to help the legal profession meet challenges such as attrition and the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on legal work.

Speaking at the annual opening of the legal year ceremony held at the Supreme Court auditorium, Chief Justice Menon said: “The Minister for Law and I have discussed these matters on a number of occasions, and we are very much aligned in our view that we must help our profession to meet these challenges.”

He added that they are deeply committed to this endeavour and will strongly support the committee’s work.

The committee will comprise representatives from the judiciary, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), the Ministry of Law, the Singapore Academy of Law, the Law Society of Singapore, the Singapore Corporate Counsel Association and academia, he said.