Nurturing the Next Generation of In-House Counsel Through SCCA’s 2026 Legal Eagle Challenge
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nurturing the Next Generation of In-House Counsel Through SCCA’s 2026 Legal Eagle Challenge
Singapore, 27 July 2026 — The Singapore Corporate Counsel Association (SCCA) brought together more than 60 law students from Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Australia for this year's SCCA Legal Eagle Challenge , where participants stepped into the role of General Counsel to tackle real-world legal and commercial challenges.
Launched in 2020, the first-of-its-kind competition is designed to provide law students with practical exposure to the realities of in-house legal practice. This year's edition centred on the timely theme, "Test Your Legal Strategy in Artificial Intelligence (AI)'s Wild West."
The Asia-Pacific Legal Innovation and Technology Association (ALITA) served as the Cross-Disciplinary Partner for this year's competition. Together, SCCA and ALITA delivered a series of online masterclasses, equipping participants with the legal knowledge, commercial awareness, and practical problem-solving skills needed to develop their solutions for the case challenge.
The Grand Final was held on 25 July 2026 where six finalist teams presented in person before a distinguished judging panel comprising: Daniel Choo , President of SCCA and General Counsel, Privacy Responsible for APAC at Bruker; Erin Chin , Asia Pacific Director at PwC NewLaw; and Joanne Chuang , APAC Ambassador for ALITA and General Counsel for APAC at Ingenico.
After a competitive final round, Matthew Ng Chen Hao , Farah Ardini Binte Muhammad Khairulnizam and Ryan Chua Sheng Han from the National University of Singapore (NUS) emerged as the Winning Team.
The Runner-Up Award went to the team comprising Liu Meiju , Amrit Kaur and Justin Kan from the Singapore Management University (SMU).
Liu Meiju was also awarded the Best Communicator Award in recognition of her demonstrated ability to communicate with clarity, confidence, and persuasiveness.
SCCA is proud to have partnered with ALITA and PwC Singapore for the 2026 Challenge. Beyond the masterclasses, ALITA will be offering selected finalists internship opportunities, providing them with exposure to legal innovation, technology, research, and thought leadership, including the opportunity to contribute to ALITA's publications. In addition, PwC Singapore will also be offering internships to outstanding finalists, further enhancing their
professional development and industry exposure.
Daniel Choo, President of SCCA, shared his thoughts on the event:
"This year's Legal Eagle Challenge showcased the calibre of future legal talent.
The participants demonstrated impressive commercial awareness, strategic thinking, and communication skills while tackling realistic business challenges , qualities that are increasingly essential for today's in-house counsel.
One of the unique aspects of this Challenge is that it gives participants the opportunity to experience what it is like to be an in-house counsel presenting to a Board of Directors and persuading key business stakeholders. This provides a valuable glimpse into the strategic and commercially focused role that in-house counsel play within organisations, and is an experience that few law students have the opportunity to gain.
Congratulations to the winning team, and my sincere thanks to all participants for the passion, commitment, and creativity they brought to this year's competition. I also extend my heartfelt appreciation to ALITA and PwC Singapore for their invaluable partnership and support. Together, we hope this Challenge has inspired more aspiring lawyers to explore the rewarding and evolving career of an in-house counsel."
Reflecting on the experience, Matthew Ng Chen Hao, Team Leader from the Winning Team,
commented on behalf of his team:
“We are incredibly honoured to be named Winners of the SCCA Legal Eagle Challenge 2026. More than anything, the competition has deepened our appreciation that being an effective in-house lawyer is not merely about pointing out legal risks, but finding commercially sensible solutions to such risks. The competition taught us that legal advice cannot exist in isolation. As in-house counsel, our advice should help decision-makers understand the trade-offs before them and chart a course that is both legally defensible and commercially viable.”
The SCCA Legal Eagle Challenge reflects SCCA's commitment to developing future-ready in-house counsel and empowering the next generation of legal talent. As the national association for corporate counsel in Singapore, SCCA hopes to inspire aspiring lawyers to embrace innovation, think commercially, and lead with confidence in today's evolving legal and business landscape.
Once again, SCCA extends its sincere appreciation to ALITA, PwC Singapore, SMU, our judges, our advisory committee, volunteers, and participants for making this year's competition possible.
For more information about the competition, please visit our website.
About SCCA
The Singapore Corporate Counsel Association (SCCA) is the pioneering national organisation representing the interests of in-house counsel working in companies and organisations based in Singapore.
With a growing membership and an extensive network, SCCA is committed to advancing the interests of corporate counsel in Singapore and across the region through flagship thought leadership conferences, premier networking events, training programmes, leadership initiatives, and industry dialogues.
Guided by its vision of Building Better Counsel, Better Corporations, and a Better Community , SCCA seeks to elevate professional excellence, strengthen the strategic influence of in-house counsel, and foster global connectivity among corporate counsel.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Angel Mae Malanum
Executive, Marketing & Communications
Singapore Corporate Counsel Association
secretariat@scca.org.sg