ONC TMT litigator and legal influencer Joshua Chu is leaving the firm to join Coinllectibles™, the first publicly traded blockchain Fusion DOTs™ technology company on the US OTC Markets as the Group’s Chief Risk Officer.
A Personal Brand
For nearly three years, Joshua Chu has built a TMT practice at ONC Lawyers based around his personal brand as an innovative technology lawyer. His insights in his field has led him to being named the TMT Legal Influencer within the Asia-Pacific region on multiple occasions.
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During his tenure at ONC, Joshua has led a number of novel matters ranging from conducting non-contentious cybersecurity investigations and litigation prevention to advising on various tokenization projects to obtaining landmark case precedents in Hwang Joon Sang & Anor. v. Golden Electronic Inc. & Anor. where he won a string of judgments for his client while at the same time ushered in a series of case authorities allowing the use of data rooms (and other technologies) within various Court procedure.
As an IT professional before making a switch into law over a decade ago, Joshua has built a brand being the go-to geek lawyer for technology companies. It is precisely this unique combination of technology and legal experience that has led Joshua to representing one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges in Hong Kong’s very first crypto litigation as well as persuading the Courts to adopt the use of technology in otherwise traditional civil procedure.
The Rationale Behind the Move and A Sign of the Times
Joshua’s move into the BNM space (Blockchain, NFTs and Metaverse) is a move that is reminiscent of a number of leading lawyers departing private practice to become part of the tech industry itself in recent days.
In a potential sign of the times, with big names like Julie Gao departing Skadden for Bytedance and Scot Thiel for Toko, it is a clear sign that tech is seen by many leading lawyers as ‘something more’ than just pure legal work and the next level of their professional careers.
“Don’t be just a lawyer”
“The question of how much a person’s life is worth has been at the forefront of the mind of anyone with a midlife crisis and Lawyers are no exception” said Joshua. Whilst World War 2 veteran Jeff DeBlanc once remarked that he “knew exactly what I was worth that day – one bag of rice!” upon lamenting how he was traded back to the US navy after being captured in the Pacific, similarly, lawyers can actually see exactly how much their lives are worth as they are being remunerated on / chase after ‘billable hours’.
Each year, lawyers can be seen trading their finite life and time away for fixed sum remuneration, with very little being remembered for their works and secrifices after a case or deal is over.
One of the driving reason behind Joshua’s move is the desire to do something that will have more impact in society. “I have won cases, established authorities and seen the fruits of such labour made its way into the White Book. I have built up brands and practices from scratch. Having ‘been there and done that’ as a lawyer, it is, however, time for something more” said Joshua.
“The legal practice has, many a times, been seen as solely only a supporting role, a byproduct of bureaucratic rules built up in societies over time. While history will remember Elon Musk and his team for building up Tesla, very few people will be able to name the lawyer behind his deals. Besides, many a times deals can still be made without a lawyer”.
The idea of being part of the technology revolution (rather than just being a supporting role) has therefore proven to be an attractive prospect prompting many to leave private practice for roles in tech-giants in recent times.
Why the Move to Coinllectibles™?
What we do at Coinllectibles™ will have an impact on how ownership is defined in the digital age. For far too long lawyers have created huge volumes of paper work (deeds and agreements are only getting more complex and thicker) over the issue of proving ownership while at the same time leaving such legacy practice vulnerable to fraud and scam. Our inability to evolve away from paper based practice in the past have undoubtedly contributed to the toxifying of the environment.
Coinllectibles™ stands to be a leader to revolutionize and lead the path towards digital ownership. Our curated Fusion DOTs™️ capture all the rights and independent valuation and ownership of physical arts and collectibles, securely underpinned by smart contracts stored on the blockchain. Coinllectibles™ Fusion DOTs™️ bridge the physical and virtual dimensions of the arts and collectibles market, providing a pleasurable, transparent, and frictionless experience to collectors from all walks of life. This is how history is made and how first movers lead the change!
