What happened
The National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Law has officially joined the Legora Legal AI Scholars Program. Through this partnership, NUS Law students and faculty will gain complimentary access to Legora’s AI-powered platform, which is designed for legal research, document review, and drafting. The collaboration includes support from Legora’s Singapore-based legal engineering team, who will work alongside NUS Libraries to provide training sessions and assist faculty in integrating AI-focused exercises into existing coursework.
The National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Law has joined the Legora Legal AI Scholars Program, a network that includes institutions such as Stanford Law School, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and King's College London. The partnership provides NUS faculty and students with complimentary access to Legora’s platform for legal research, document review, and drafting.
Legora’s Singapore-based team will collaborate with NUS Libraries to facilitate access and provide training. The program is designed to integrate AI exercises into existing curricula, with Legora providing guides and training videos tailored to the university's specific needs.
Professor Tan Cheng Han SC, Chief Strategy Officer at the NUS Faculty of Law, stated that the university will take a measured approach, introducing the platform only after students have established core legal foundations. The goal is to ensure students learn to use AI as a tool rather than a substitute for legal reasoning.
The partnership is part of Legora’s broader expansion in the Asia-Pacific region, where it maintains offices in Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Seoul, and Bengaluru. The company claims its platform is used by over 130,000 legal professionals across more than 80 markets.
Why it matters
This partnership highlights the ongoing tension in legal education regarding the role of in professional training. By choosing to introduce the platform only after students have established core legal foundations—such as close reading and independent legal reasoning—NUS Law is adopting a cautious, pedagogical approach. This strategy contrasts with institutions that prioritize AI integration from the start of legal training. The move reflects a broader industry effort to ensure that future lawyers are proficient in using AI tools while maintaining the critical thinking skills necessary for professional accountability and ethical practice.
The integration of AI into legal education is a subject of intense debate. Law schools are currently balancing the demand from employers for AI-literate graduates against concerns that early reliance on automated tools may erode essential skills like close reading, analysis, and drafting.
NUS Law’s decision to delay AI access until students have mastered foundational skills represents a deliberate pedagogical choice. This approach emphasizes that while AI is becoming a fixture in daily legal work, the responsibility for legal arguments and the quality of legal reasoning must remain with the human practitioner.
By partnering with a platform already used in professional practice, NUS aims to connect classroom teaching with real-world legal workflows. This alignment is intended to prepare students for a professional environment where AI is increasingly used for research and document drafting.
The partnership underscores the role of legal technology companies in shaping academic curricula. As Legora and similar firms expand their academic networks, they are increasingly influencing how law schools teach the intersection of technology and law, potentially setting new standards for legal education in the Asia-Pacific region.
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What to watch next
The primary focus will be on how NUS Law balances the introduction of AI tools with traditional legal training. Observers should monitor whether this 'foundations-first' model becomes a standard for other top-tier law schools in the Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, the effectiveness of the collaboration between Legora’s local engineering team and the university faculty will be a key indicator of how successfully academic institutions can bridge the gap between classroom theory and the practical, AI-integrated workflows currently being adopted by law firms and in-house legal departments across the region.
Watch for how NUS Law evaluates the impact of the Legora platform on student performance and whether the university adjusts its 'foundations-first' policy as the technology evolves.
Monitor whether other major law schools in Singapore and the wider Asia-Pacific region adopt similar partnerships or if they choose alternative strategies for AI integration.
Observe the long-term outcomes of the collaboration between Legora’s legal engineering team and university faculty, specifically regarding the development of new AI-focused assignments and their effectiveness in teaching students when to rely on—and when to avoid—AI tools.