Scores of in-house counsel and legal professionals have explored leadership, innovation and regulatory risk at the 2025 Association of Corporate Counsel Asia-Pacific (ACC Asia-Pacific) Annual Meeting on 29-30 May at the Westin Singapore.
The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), in partnership with Lexology, organised the event developed with input from a committee of senior in-house counsel from across the region. Sessions focused on equipping legal teams with the tools to lead strategically in an environment shaped by technological disruption, shifting trade policies and complex regulatory challenges.
ACC president and CEO Veta Richardson opened the event with a forward-looking message, following an icebreaker led by ACC Singapore president David Sullivan. The keynote panel, moderated by Andrew Macintosh, senior managing director at FTI Consulting, examined how general counsel could respond to global economic, political and regulatory volatility.
The two-day agenda featured a wide range of sessions designed to equip in-house counsel with strategic, technical and leadership capabilities across key areas of legal practice.
One of the first sessions included approaches to AI governance led by speakers Schellie-Jayne Price, senior legal counsel at Nooriam, Jayne Kuriakose, Asia head of disputes and litigation at DXC Technology, and Kenneth Ong, senior privacy counsel, Asia-Pacific privacy leader at GE Healthcare.
Other topics on day one comprised global antitrust enforcement, ESG compliance and risks, legal team transformation, crisis management involving deepfakes, legal operations and cost-saving strategies.
Day two focused on privacy and cybersecurity in Asia, real-world AI applications, cross-cultural legal dynamics, solo counsel challenges, global supply chain regulations, executive presence in the C-suite, internal dispute resolution and legaltech implementation.
The closing plenary, led by Tom Stephenson, vice president of community and legal operations at Legal.Io, and Priyanka Mukherjee, legal director at Pfizer, focused on using legal metrics to shift mindsets and highlight the legal function’s strategic contribution to the business.
Amid Asia’s growing business complexities, the 2025 ACC Asia-Pacific Annual Meeting delivered practical, empowering insights for in-house counsel. Attendees found the sessions empowering and relevant on topics such as AI, cybersecurity, ESG and solo counsel challenges.
