ArentFox Schiff Opens First Major Law Office in the Metaverse

News of the new office opening was first reported by The American Lawyer. The new office is located in the Luxury Fashion District of Decentraland at coordinates -100,-21. A guided tour of our new office can be found by clicking the video below:

“The Metaverse stands to disrupt nearly every industry – fashion, sports, real estate, the list goes on – presenting immense possibilities and potential risks,” said ArentFox Schiff Chairman Anthony V. Lupo. “ArentFox Schiff has been helping world-class brands in these sectors enter the Metaverse, and now with our new office in Decentraland, we can call each other virtual neighbors.”

The office was designed to serve as a destination in the Metaverse, with four floors and conference rooms, plus a private meeting space that is not publicly accessible. The space was designed by Voxel Architects, a Metaverse-native digital architecture studio dedicated to building virtual structures and experiences.

In February 2022, ArentFox Schiff became the first major law firm in the country to buy a stake in the Metaverse, noting at the time that the firm has “a long history of advising companies at the forefront of new technology trends – and leading as an early adopter in those trends. This includes being one of the first major law firms with a website on the internet.”

Our Metaverse, Blockchain & Digital Assets team, among the largest in BigLaw, is counseling some of the world’s top companies on their strategies for entering Web3. Earlier this year, ArentFox Schiff advised PwC in becoming the first international professional services network to publicly enter the Metaverse. 

“ArentFox Schiff is opening an office in the Metaverse because that’s where our clients are going,” said Firmwide Co-Managing Partner Cristina A. Carvalho. “We understand that serving as go-to advisors on blockchain and digital asset business issues means playing a part in shaping this new frontier.”

Our clients range from professional sports teams including the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, and Major League Soccer franchises, to cosmetic companies and internationally recognized brands like Diesel and Ferrari, and media and entertainment conglomerates such as Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony.

ArentFox Schiff is also one of the first law firms to help set up decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and assist in fund formation.

In August, the firm published the ArentFox Schiff Industry Guide to the Metaverse to answer questions and anticipate concerns about what the evolving software technology will mean for impacted industries.