Gomez-Acebo & Pombo holds the first legal event in the metaverse

The firm inaugurates its virtual space in an event attended by experts in the field from Condé Nast and Diageo.

Today, the virtual world of the law firm Gómez-Acebo & Pombo was the setting for the first legal event held by a Spanish law firm in the metaverse.

The inaugural event was attended by two top-level speakers: Ciara Byrne, Director of New Business Innovation at Condé Nast, and Jimmy Klein, Global Digital Innovation Manager at Diageo, with Sofía Martínez-Almeida, partner in Gómez-Acebo & Pombo’s Intellectual Property and Technology department, acting as moderator.

Ciara Byrne stated that “there is an idea that the metaverse is an experience that isolates you from the world, but what we are experiencing today is the potential to be able to connect and express yourself in a much more engaging way”, adding: “all companies need to think about how to enter this space in a way that suits their brands and values”.

During his intervention, Jimmy Klein claimed that “the metaverse will unequivocally change the way we communicate, shop and socialise”; adding how “experts will be needed in the creation of future experiences through these platforms”.

Closing the session, Sofía Martínez-Almeida highlighted that “as lawyers, we have to understand the new realities and predict the new horizons. That is why we have created a transversal team on the metaverse at GA_P that is already reflecting on this not-so-virtual reality at the moment, in terms of opportunities and risks”.
At the end of the event, participants enjoyed the virtual “chill out” area where they could do virtual networking (albeit very realistic), take a helicopter ride or simply stroll around the virtual space created for the occasion.

This event is part of a global project started in 2021, fully dedicated to the metaverse. These actions include the creation of a transversal team at the firm level dedicated to advising on this new technology, integrating professionals from all areas of the firm (intellectual property and technology, tax, labour, procedural, criminal, academic advice, etc.), the publication of legal analyses on the metaverse, and the creation of a new website. ), the publication of legal analyses on the impact of the Metaverse on the different areas of law and the recurring participation as speakers of the members of the transversal team in different events organised by third parties (such as, for example, the recent session “Metavérsate: Retos legales y debates abiertos” organised by Andema – Asociación para la Defensa de la Marca – at the Madrid Bar Association) as well as in the media.