KorumLegal Consultant: Jackie Nga Man Yeung believes ALSPs offer flexibility in the evolving legal landscape.

This month, our KorumLegal Consultant is Jackie Nga Man Yeung who is a dual-qualified general commercial and corporate lawyer, trained at a silver circle firm, with onshore and offshore private practice and in-house experience in Hong Kong and Singapore, covering Asia-Pacific markets. 

1. Hi Jackie! Can you tell us a little about the work you are currently doing and have been doing?

I have been a legal consultant since 2020, and since then, I have gained experience in the financial institutions, retail, and healthcare sectors. I have multi-disciplinary experience in reviewing commercial contracts and identifying legal risks across retail, real estate, marketing, human resources, administrative, customer services, treasury, and procurement departments, providing timely and practical solutions. I spent the majority of my time with Quality HealthCare, which is a primary healthcare provider in Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Bupa. I also had the privilege of working with the Ant Group, Binance, Lane Crawford Joyce Group and Lululemon.

2. What made you take the leap into working in NewLaw for ALSP's? And why is it a good fit for you?

I took an entrepreneurial leap and started my own ice-cream store business called "GLOBLATO" in 2020, while simultaneously working temporarily on a contractual basis. NewLaw gave me the flexibility to build my business while continuing to develop my foundation experience in terms of both hard and soft skills for me to succeed in the in-house arena. I was also given the opportunity to explore and put my foot into new areas of practice, as I started off as a corporate lawyer in international law firms.

3. What's the most rewarding assignment you've ever had and why?

I was tasked as the liaison in charge of operations in Australia and Luxembourg for regulatory monitoring, as well as marketing, human resources, and administrative teams internally for a 7-person legal team at Binance. I felt honoured to be entrusted with the work by helping to grow the business despite being a contract lawyer. I also assisted with interviewing new candidates for the team as they expanded into a 30-person team now. I took up more leadership roles and understood high-level decision-making  as I joined meetings directly with the CEO and management team, and my suggestions were taken into account.

4. As an experienced NewLaw/ ALSP consultant, where do you see NewLaw/ ALSPs fitting into the matrix of the legal sector and how have you seen it evolve?

I see that flexibility is central to the evolving legal landscape, and more and more clients would prefer to have flexibility in terms of hiring needs, while more and more lawyers would prefer to have better work-life balance and the choice to choose when, where and how to work. With the advancement of technology, especially in the post-Covid age, more legal demands can come across borders across different time zones, and flexibility is required to ensure  work is done. 

5. What trends do you expect to see in the legal services industry in the next 5 years?

Unfortunately, legal fees may trend down with alternatives available, such as artificial intelligence. Clients may not appreciate the complexity of legal work that is required which cannot be replaced by computers. A lot of the work is done through effective communication and human teamwork. In terms of the types of work, there are more and more demands on cryptocurrency and cybersecurity/data protection, which traditionally, law firms aren’t structured to serve these areas NewLaw would be able to step in to fill in the gap. 

6. Your favourite tune? And why? 

Imagine Dragons - On Top Of The World - It reminds me to keep dreaming and aspiring to become better and better!