We recently caught up with Ernest Lim (NY/HK, ’08), Professor of Law and Vice Dean at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (NUS). Ernest began his career in corporate law at another firm and then joined Davis Polk as an associate, working in both the New York and Hong Kong offices. He transitioned to academia in 2011, starting as an Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Law. In 2017, he moved to NUS Law as an Associate Professor before rising to his current roles. In this Spotlight, Ernest discusses his journey from legal practice to academia, his interest in generating original ideas, and the deep satisfaction of addressing pressing issues like climate change and artificial intelligence (AI).
Read on to learn about Ernest’s career, his approach to teaching and research, and his advice for those considering a transition from legal practice to academia.
What inspired your transition from practicing corporate law at Davis Polk to academia?
While practice was and remains interesting and valuable, I don’t find it as intellectually exciting and fruitful as academia, where I can exercise my creativity to generate original ideas and to push the boundaries of knowledge in a reflective manner. For example, my most major and stimulating project to date is examining how corporate law and governance can and should be used to promote social and environmental good by reducing conflicts of interest. To that end, I wrote three monographs, all published by Cambridge University Press.
The first is A Case for Shareholders’ Fiduciary Duties in Common Law Asia (2019), in which I challenge prevailing orthodoxies and argue that shareholders should be subject to fiduciary duties under the laws in common law Asia. The second – Sustainability and Corporate Mechanisms in Asia (2020) – is an analysis of six corporate mechanisms for advancing sustainability in concentrated ownership jurisdictions with state-owned enterprises. The third is Social Enterprises in Asia: A New Legal Form (2023), in which I critique the existing forms for social enterprises in the United States (such as benefit corporations) and the United Kingdom (community interest companies) and advance a framework for a new legal form for social enterprises in Asia.
How did your time as an associate at Davis Polk influence your research focus on timely topics such as climate change and AI?
At Davis Polk, every major deal that I worked on mattered because of the significant, practical consequences that are attached to deals. This has shaped my approach to research. Ideas can’t be too abstract; they must be applied to concrete situations and address real problems. There are no topics more consequential for humanity than AI and climate change. While there are many pundits who can speak and write about AI and climate change in a general way, not many can articulate in a nuanced and granular fashion the corporate and private law implications of AI and climate change and how these phenomena will impact the law.
A key lesson from the many cross-border deals I worked on at Davis Polk is the importance of collaboration and getting the right people to work on projects, ensuring that the teams remain motivated and deliver high quality output. That experience has helped me to conceive and execute two large-scale, transnational projects on AI and climate change where I had to bring together and manage leading experts from all over the world. I co-edited The Cambridge Handbook of Private Law and AI (2024), consisting of 37 authors and 29 chapters. With Douglas Kysar of Yale Law School, I am now editing The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Private Law (forthcoming 2026) consisting of 45 chapters and 61 authors from multiple countries and institutions.
Are there lessons from your time at Davis Polk that have shaped your approach to teaching?
During my time at Davis Polk, the best lawyers to work with were those who took time out of their busy schedules to explain to me not only what needed to be done, but also the rationales and contexts. Very often in practice you are being told, or you need to find out for yourself, what needs to be done. But rarely will someone be patient enough to explain to you how it works and why it matters. This experience shapes my teaching. As a law professor, my role goes beyond imparting knowledge to helping students critically evaluate the principles and policies underpinning the law, equipping them with a good understanding of how and why the law was created or has developed or has been enforced in certain ways, and enabling them to come up with sensible and workable proposals for reforms.
What advice would you give to lawyers considering a transition from a legal practice to academia?
It is extremely difficult to set aside time to think and write while in practice, because of the pressing demands of clients and bosses. But to enter academia, one must set aside time – ideally every day – to write a paper that can be published in a top-tier journal. It is difficult to switch to academia these days without any publications. Academic publications, as seen in top-tier peer-reviewed journals and leading university presses, are different from client memos, policy briefs or submissions to court. One has to generate fresh insights that will illuminate the theory or practice of law.
What has been the most rewarding project in your academic career so far, and why?
Bringing out the best in my junior colleagues and helping them to live out their fullest potential has been incredibly rewarding. Part of my job as the Vice Dean is to support and champion the work of colleagues, especially those who are pre-tenure, and to help them in their career development.
One would have thought that as a mentor, you would give more than you receive. But it’s often the opposite. The process of mentorship enables you to become more compassionate and empathetic toward others and, importantly, toward oneself. There have been frustrating, irritating, and disappointing moments, but ultimately, I find them edifying and inspiring when I reflected on them as a whole. Mentorship enables one to shape destinies, and in the process one is transformed.
Do you have any other memories from your time at Davis Polk that you would like to share?
I worked mainly on capital market transactions. Ultimately, it is not the deals that left the biggest impression on me, but the people who strived for excellence in their work and who were respectful of one another. I had the great pleasure of working closely with the brilliant Jean Weng (now at BNY Mellon) and the opportunity to support the inimitable Richard Truesdell Jr. in a few transactions.