Dr Cheung Kwok-kwan, Deputy Secretary for Justice of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (3rd from left), and Ms Au-Yeung Wai-yu, Grace, Principal Government Counsel of the Office for Legal Construction in the Department of Justice (3rd from right), alongside Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, PolyU President (2nd from left); Prof. Christopher Chao, PolyU Senior Vice President (Research and Innovation) (2nd from right); Prof. Cao Jiannong, PolyU Vice President (Education) (right); and Prof. Lu Haitian (left), attended the event.Zoom In

Legal work involves extensive documentation and cross-referencing — paralegals hunched over files at midnight, lawyers spending days reviewing compliance across multiple jurisdictions, knowing one missed detail could derail a major transaction. Now imagine that same exhaustive process assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) with remarkable precision in a fraction of the time. This isn’t some distant future – it’s happening now in Hong Kong, where PolyU researchers have transformed legal practice into a collaboration between human judgement and AI.

 

The startup behind the innovation

Professor Lu Haitian, Hong Kong Sustaintech Foundation Professor in Accounting and Finance at PolyU, founded WiseLaw Digital Technology (WiseLaw) in 2024. This represents Hong Kong’s first technology enterprise applying cross-border legal and compliance large-model intelligent agents to handle complex compliance challenges across multiple jurisdictions.

 

The PolyU startup has gained momentum through the PolyU Angel Fund, PolyVentures ecosystem, and prestigious programmes including Cyberport’s Incubation Programme, the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub’s Dream Accelerator, and the NVIDIA Inception Program.

 

At the recent “Next Generation Legal AI Agent System: PolyU Legal AI Showcase”, over a hundred government, business and academic leaders witnessed this vision becoming reality — an AI agent system addressing pain points in legal practice precisely and efficiently.

 

Revolutionary innovation addressing global challenges

The system addresses the Nation’s urgent need for high-level legal protection for enterprises “going global”. Dr Cheung Kwok-kwan, Deputy Secretary for Justice of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China, who officiated at the showcase event, emphasised, “Under the national strategy of high-level opening up, the HKSAR’s legal sector must harness technology to enhance the efficiency and quality of cross-border legal services.” He affirmed PolyU and WiseLaw’s breakthroughs and anticipated more original legal tech achievements from the HKSAR serving the Greater Bay Area and the world.

 

Professor Lu’s showcase revealed four breakthrough products transforming cross-border legal practice. WiseChat functions as a “Super Legal Assistant”, improving practitioner efficiency by 80% through precise cross-border compliance consultations. WiseTools enables efficient contract review, identifying risky clauses and suggesting modifications within minutes. WiseSearch provides “One-Stop Intelligent Retrieval” for stock prospectuses, announcements and HKSAR legislation, while WiseCourse, used at PolyU and City University of Hong Kong, serves as an “AI Tutor” nurturing tech-savvy legal talent.

 

Prof. Lu Haitian highlighted the four core products of the “Next Generation Legal Service AI Agent System”.

Prof. Lu Haitian highlighted the four core products of the “Next Generation Legal Service AI Agent System”.

 

Fostering industry-academia-research collaboration

The event exemplifies industry-academia-research collaboration under the Government of the HKSAR’s dual strategic guidance of promoting legal technology and constructing an “International Innovation and Technology Centre”.

 

In two roundtable forums, industry leaders shared insights on applying AI in real-world scenarios. The guest speakers, including Mr Liu Peiwen, Director of the Digital Technology Department at China Mobile International; Ms Ellen Ng, Director of Business Development, Global Expansion Platform at Vistra; Ms Guan Yue, Chief Compliance Officer of Xiaohongshu; Ms Zhao Tong, Chief Compliance Officer of Guotai Junan International; and Ms Yeung Cheung Ying, former Chair of the Greater China Practice at Latham & Watkins, explored how AI technology helps enterprises build dynamic compliance protection and reshapes legal value creation.

 

Additionally, PolyU and the Hong Kong Generative AI Research Development Center signed a strategic cooperation agreement. WiseLaw also signed strategic memoranda of understanding with CMA Testing, CITIC Telecom, iFlytek, the Asia Pacific International Arbitration Chamber and the Jiangsu (Nanjing) Cross-Border Legal Service Center, establishing a cross-border legal AI ecosystem integrating research, industry and legal services.

 

As Professor Lu concluded, “Our goal is not to replace lawyers, but to empower legal services to be more precise, efficient and accessible through AI.”

 

Witnessed by Prof. Dong Cheng, Associate Vice President (Mainland Research Development) of PolyU (back row, left) and Mr Yu Yue, Special Assistant to the Provost of HKUST and Head of Business Development at the Shanghai Education Integration Center (back row, right), Ms Chan Cui Fang, Acting Director of the Knowledge Transfer and Entrepreneurship Office of PolyU (seated, left) and Dr Han Sirui, Head of the Data Asset Division at HKGAI (seated, right), jointly signed the cooperation agreement.

Witnessed by Prof. Dong Cheng, Associate Vice President (Mainland Research Development) of PolyU (back row, left) and Mr Yu Yue, Special Assistant to the Provost of HKUST and Head of Business Development at the Shanghai Education Integration Center (back row, right), Ms Amylia Chan, Interim Director of the Knowledge Transfer and Entrepreneurship Office of PolyU (seated, left) and Dr Han Sirui, Head of the Data Asset Division at HKGAI (seated, right), jointly signed the cooperation agreement.

 

(From left) Dr Lei Zhen, COO of WiseLaw; Mr Liu Peiwen, Director of the Digital Technology Department at China Mobile International; Ms Ellen Ng, Director of Business Development, GEP at Vistra; Dr Yeung Wai Yuen, Assistant to the Co-Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Hong Kong Centre, Asia Pacific Institute of International Arbitration; Dr Lin Weixing, Chairman of Sailglobal Success HR Group; and Mr Liu Gang, CEO of Veritas eProp (Hong Kong) Technology Co., Ltd., engaged in in-depth discussion on the topic “Compliance Challenges for Enterprises Going Global and New Paths for AI Empowerment”.

(From left) Dr Lei Zhen, COO of WiseLaw; Mr Liu Peiwen, Director of the Digital Technology Department at China Mobile International; Ms Ellen Ng, Director of Business Development, GEP at Vistra; Dr Yeung Wai Yuen, Assistant to the Co-Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Hong Kong Centre, Asia Pacific Institute of International Arbitration; Dr Lin Weixing, Chairman of Sailglobal Success HR Group; and Mr Liu Gang, CEO of Veritas eProp (Hong Kong) Technology Co., Ltd., engaged in in-depth discussion on the topic “Compliance Challenges for Enterprises Going Global and New Paths for AI Empowerment”.