After advising global accounting firm PwC on its purchase of metaverse property, Arent Fox decided to follow suit. Arent Fox is opening a virtual office in the metaverse in the fashion and retail district of browser-based 3D platform Decentraland. It is the first major law firm to open in the metaverse.

The metaverse is “the combined network of 3D virtual worlds in which people work, play and socialize.” Increasingly retail brands and some business services firms are buying property there. For example, JPMorgan became the first big bank to open in the metaverse by opening a virtual lounge.

Arent Fox’s virtual offices will be a place where lawyers can meet with clients for business or socializing. Arent Fox crypto chair James Williams told Law.com that gaming platforms may be the most familiar. He said: “But that’s not where the future is. In places like Sandbox and Decentraland, you’re buying in locations just like you would buy a Rodeo Drive. We want to show our clients: We know this world; look, we bought in this world, and we can help them navigate this world.”

Arent Fox chair Anthony Lupo told Law.com that its metaverse office is “not only symbolic.” He said: “We are attempting to find the solution and actually operating in the space. We don’t know what the metaverse will be in five years, but we’re not waiting five years to find out. We’re going to help iterate that future.”