How this 24-year-old is disrupting legal tech in Malaysia

On the far right is Jo fan Pang, head of marketing at CanLaw. Photo credit: CanLaw.

This article is heavily revised from the transcript of a video conversation by 米雷牛 Millennials.

Jo fan Pang is the ambassador of buzz at CanLaw, and he’s also just 24 years old. Here’s my conversation with him.

What is CanLaw?

CanLaw is a legal tech startup. Legal tech is similar to fintech and is focused on innovating the legal profession using technology.

We started off with a lawyer discovery platform, where people could go online, put all their needs on the platform, compare quotes from lawyers, and then make bookings with them.

We’ve also moved on to doing different things like running an online legal news site called The CanLaw Report, where we try to make the law and new legal developments fun, engaging, and shareable. How we do it is we put GIFs, memes, and those kinds of things to make it fun for people to understand.

Recently, we are also doing workshops and consultancies for lawyers who want to adopt technologies as well. We are branching into that and seeing how we can move there.

After you graduated from the bar, why did you join a startup instead of pursuing a legal career?

Well, I think a lot of people know me as a student activist and human rights activist, but even earlier than that, I was also a tech geek.

After finishing my legal studies, this opportunity came by from friends who were working on this startup. I like law and I love tech too, so I thought this was a great idea.

I did some research as well on what legal tech startups are doing overseas. They are doing great things, changing the legal profession in places like the US, the UK, and Australia.

By implementing technology, you do not just help lawyers upskill themselves but also help people access lawyers more easily. So, for me, it is still at the heart of what I am very passionate about, which is increasing access to justice and human rights.

A lot of people we speak with just don’t know where to find a lawyer. They ask their friends’ friends, and that’s pretty much it. They don’t even know whether that lawyer is good or not.

I feel that access to justice is still very low, not just in terms of accessing lawyers but also the knowledge required. That’s why I run The CanLaw Report. I think the millennials are just turned off by legal articles, those boring shit. I want to make it fun and engaging. I don’t want to just follow the system.

What does it mean to be an ambassador of buzz and what is your growth strategy?

My job is a lot about making people know what CanLaw is in a viral and fun way. Basically, it’s a fancy name for marketing and communications.

You guys are still young. Why do you think you’re the right people to lead the change in the space?

What was the turning point for you that confirmed your interest in the startup?

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Does being a millennial help you in starting up?

What advice would you give for millennials who would like to start up?

What would you do if you could create a global law?