Event Recap | LexisNexis In-House Legal and Compliance Conference 2025 Navigating Complexity: Legal Leadership in an AI-Driven, Risk-Focused World

In a year defined by accelerated change, close to 200 legal professionals convened at the LexisNexis In-House Legal and Compliance Conference 2025 on 6 November to explore how artificial intelligence, regulation, and risk are reshaping the practice of law. 

From forward-looking keynotes to industry panels on AI adoption, data ethics and crypto governance, the discussions pointed toward a clear message: the future of in-house legal leadership will be built on trust, adaptability and technological fluency.

Opening Address | Setting the Tone for Transformation

Delivering the first keynote, Michael Sit, Managing Director, Greater China, LexisNexis, set the stage for the afternoon with insights drawn from two years of regional research into AI adoption in the legal sector.

According to the latest survey report by LexisNexis Hong Kong, AI adoption among Hong Kong lawyers rose from 53 percent in 2024 to 69 percent in 2025, while usage in the Chinese Mainland reached 88 percent. Globally, the figures are even higher across mature markets such as the US and UK, a sign that AI is rapidly becoming a standard professional tool rather than an experimental concept.

Michael linked this shift to a larger challenge confronting all organisations: the so-called “Gen AI divide.” Citing research from MIT, he explained that while the world has spent billions on generative AI initiatives, 95 percent of organisations have yet to realise a tangible return, leaving only 5 percent that have truly cracked the code.

Among those success stories, he highlighted LexisNexis clients using Lexis+ AI^TM with Protégé^TM, which, according to The Total Economic Impact^TM of LexisNexis Lexis+ AI for Large Law Firms, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of LexisNexis, May 2025, achieves over 300 percent ROI in three years for large law firms and pays for itself in under six months for corporate legal departments.

“Our goal is simple: AI that empowers lawyers without compromising accuracy, ethics or trust,” Michael said, reinforcing LexisNexis’ commitment to trusted, legal-specific innovation.

He concluded by unveiling three new features that embody this philosophy: personalised drafting, enhanced multi-turn prompts, and full transactional drafting. Developed through continuous collaboration with local subject matter experts, including barristers, solicitors, in-house counsel, and academics, Lexis+ AI Hong Kong is fine-tuned for the region’s unique legal context, with responses that are grounded in trusted local authoritative content, including the Annotated Ordinances of Hong Kong and Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong.

To book a walkthrough of Lexis+ AI with Protégé, click here.

Session 2 – Keynote Speech | Ethics, Governance and Professional Integrity

Roden Tong, President of The Law Society of Hong Kong, spoke on upholding professional standards amid technological change. He described AI, anti-money laundering, sanctions, and virtual assets as active forces that demand our judgment and concerted effort to navigate.

Citing the Law Society’s Position Paper on The Impact of AI on the Legal Profession, he stressed that core principles such as data governance, transparency and human oversight must anchor every AI application. The Law Society has proactively developed a robust framework for regulation and compliance to keep pace with international standards and the evolving legal landscape.

His address closed with a message to the profession:

“The tools have been changing and will keep changing, but the need for our judgment, our ethics, and our leadership remains unchanged and indeed, has never been more critical.” — Roden Tong

Session 3 | Panel Discussion — The Rise of AI in the Commercial World

Moderated by Michael Sit, the panel featured Amirali B Nasir, MH, JP, Vice President of The Law Society of Hong Kong, Ben Bury, President of the Society of Construction Law Hong Kong, and Martin Hu‌i, SC, Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association. Their discussion blended optimism with realism on AI’s impact across legal and commercial sectors.

“AI cannot replace judgment, it can only enhance it,” said Martin Hu‌i, SC, urging lawyers to treat AI as an assistant rather than a decision-maker. Ben Bury reflected on the profession’s need to adapt, noting that “what we need to do as lawyers is learn as much as we can and take control of the process as it develops. Those who invest time and money in the right resources will thrive.”

All three panellists advocated a pragmatic, sector-specific approach to AI regulation. One that encourages innovation while protecting professional accountability. The discussion closed with a reminder that education and adaptability will determine who thrives in this new era.

Session 4 | Fangda Partners on Cross-Border Compliance and Regulatory Resilience

In the next session, Kate Yin, Head of Compliance and Government Enforcement, and Jin Wang, Partner at Fangda Partners, delivered an incisive update on enforcement trends affecting multinational corporations. They described how geopolitics and regulation are becoming inseparable, citing data from China’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign (2023–2027).

“Compliance is no longer defensive, it’s competitive,” — Kate Yin

She and Jin Wang shared that diverging U.S.–China regulations now benefit from a due-diligence-focused approach: companies must balance domestic compliance with overseas obligations, avoiding “over-compliance” that alienates local regulators. Their key takeaway: compliance, when done intelligently, is a source of resilience and differentiation.

Session 5 | Panel — Navigating the Crypto Frontier: Trade, Trust and Regulation

The final panel brought together Chris Young, Business Development Manager at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Federico Fabiano, Head of Legal and Compliance at Hex Trust, and Sebastian Ko, General Counsel at DFX Labs for a candid discussion on Hong Kong’s fast-evolving crypto ecosystem.

Sebastian Ko opened with an overview of Hong Kong’s crypto-regulatory landscape, describing it as both progressive and pragmatic. Federico Fabiano outlined how in-house counsel must evolve from gatekeepers to strategic risk navigators, aligning compliance and innovation to build institutional-grade security.

“Digital assets demand the same rigour as traditional finance: transparency, compliance and trust,” — Federico Fabiano

Chris Young added a RegTech perspective, explaining how AI-driven tools are strengthening fraud detection, data protection and risk scoring across decentralised networks, while reminding the audience that “AI can automate compliance tasks, but it cannot automate accountability.”

The conversation closed with reflections on forthcoming regulation, from tokenisation frameworks to cross-border reporting, and a consensus that effective governance will depend on collaboration between regulators, institutions and technology providers.

Closing Reflections | Innovation with Integrity

Throughout the afternoon, the conference captured the pulse of a profession in transition. Speakers and panellists alike reaffirmed that the future of in-house legal leadership depends not merely on adopting AI or navigating regulation, but on doing both with integrity and insight.

From Michael Sit’s data-driven optimism to Roden Tong’s ethical imperative, and from Fangda Partners’ compliance intelligence to the crypto panel’s forward-looking realism, every session underscored one shared conviction:

Legal leadership today is not about keeping pace with change, it is about shaping it.