Meet Tony Song: FLIP Stream Research Fellow

Our research teams and members lead the conversations and build knowledge at the intersections of law, technology and innovation.

In this new interview series, we are inviting you to meet some of the amazing people behind the research and work we do here at the UNSW Allens Hub and FLIP Stream. 

Recently we sat down with FLIP Stream Research Fellow Tony Song, to discuss his work on the 2022 FLIP Annual Topic and talk about what drives his passion for law, crypto currency and unravelling what our future might hold in these arenas. 

Can you give us a quick overview of your research?

Outside of the annual topic for this year’s FLIP Stream on trust and relationships online, my research is quite diverse, ranging from artificial intelligence to drones to online courts.

I look at these through a more future focused lens (reflecting FLIP of course).

In my spare time I enjoy researching or trading cryptocurrencies. Recently, I have begun to meld my passions for crypto with my academic work by writing articles about why crypto needs the law, and vice versa. I believe smart legal contracts to be the next frontier of efficient legal work and true ‘LegalTech’. 

What or who sparked your interest in pursuing this field of research?

I have always been captivated by what the future will look like, and for that reason I enjoy anything that is forward-looking, technological and entrepreneurial.

I think it is important that law advances alongside these movements and does not fall behind. However, I am not a tech evangelist. The law and the legal profession generally take a steadier approach to change. Critics describe this as glacial, however I think caution is often necessary given what is at stake.

Law is about the control of power in society. Under the rule of law, no one is above the law. It puts a check on the selfish exercise of power by individuals. However, law can falter when people or organisations, driven by greed, use obfuscated power structures to skirt around the law. We see this time and time again with the Panama Papers; banks during the GFC ignoring risk management in the name of profit; or ‘big tech’ today exploiting our data under of a ‘move fast and break things’ mentality. In each case, business models prioritising monetisation led to innumerable harm to the everyday individual on the assumption that human trust would sustain until sound mechanisms caught up.

However, I am optimistic about the law and legal profession. Law has always adapted to technology and social change. Researching how best to do so is a fulfilling and rewarding experience, while also giving me an invaluable opportunity to advance notions of justice in society.

As for my interest in crypto, I see it as an answer to the above injustices. In its purest form (beyond the current speculative frenzy) it offers an alternative to a system broken by public distrust of institutions.

Like the law, crypto draws from the best parts of history, economics, game theory, human psychology, politics, technology and anthropology to propose solutions to society’s most complex problems.

How does your research engage with the 2022 FLIP Stream annual topic?

My work for the annual topic has focussed on trust in an online world in three main areas. First is how to convey trust in the digital realm to acquire clients. This looks at how digital marketing has changed how lawyers first build up trust with their clients.

For example, websites and social are now often the first interface clients have with a lawyer or law firm, meaning that perceived trustworthiness of the legal practice now needs to be demonstrated in varied digital formats.

Second, I looked at the risks and legal duties of using these new digital platforms, and explored the notion that while technology can help build trust, it can equally frustrate it when used inappropriately.

Finally, I researched the graduate experience online, and how best to manage junior lawyers in an environment that is likely new, intimidating and foreign. This involved an examination of supervision, mentoring and training, as well as some suggestions for strategies to mitigate the distance of working across cyberspace.

In the future, I anticipate I will continue my research on trust by considering how the trustless architecture of distributed ledger technology can remove the need for intermediaries or institutions, leading to fairer outcomes for society.

How would you explain and introduce your research to someone with no background in the area (say, at a social event)?

Trust is like the social glue of our relationships. It is the lubricant that keeps the economic machine of the world functioning smoothly and efficiently.

For lawyers, as ‘trusted advisors’ maintaining and demonstrating that trust, whether it be in-person or online, is essential. Our research looks to how to best achieve that. For example, while a lawyer may convey their trustworthiness online through social media, websites etc, they must be able to substantiate their claims and actually in fact, be trustworthy.

As for crypto, I would say the crux is moving away from a system backed by printing monopoly money (paper, worthless and unlimited) to returning to a system that is backed by real value, scarcity and trust. Where previously this was the gold standard, in the future I believe it will be a system backed by the belief in decentralised social capital (or conviction in the productivity of humanity).  

What is an exciting and unexpected thing you have learnt while doing research which you think everyone should know more about?

That law firms are now taking a more mindful approach to their staff.

From most firms retaining flexibility with hybrid 60-40 protocols (3 days office, 2 days WFH) to firms being more conscious of mental health concerns (no doubt as fallout from the lockdowns) – these are positive changes from an industry generally reticent to change. Part of this has been the war for talent in the legal industry, especially at the associate level, where brain drain over to the US, UK and the like has given employees more leverage to bargain for more amenable working conditions. However, that’s not to say a lot more still needs to be done.

How can people in and outside of UNSW connect with you and your work?

You can email me at t.song[at]unsw.edu.au. I’m happy to connect and chat with anyone about any of the topics above.  

Huge thanks to Tony for sharing these insights into his research and work with the FLIP Stream and UNSW Allens Hub. You can read more about Tony and his work with the FLIP Stream on our website.  

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