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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

VIRTUAL REALTY - While most law firms are busy trying to decide whether to have the cubicles removed from their office suites, at least one is in the midst of building a brand new office that will exist entirely in virtual reality. In what is understood to be the first substantial move of a Big Law firm into the metaverse, Washington-headquartered Arent Fox has bought a digital plot of land and is opening a virtual office. Firm chair Anthony Lupo told Law.com's Bruce Love that the firm chose to set up shop in the metaverse because that's where its clients are moving. Global accountancy firm PwC purchased digital land in a popular world called The Sandbox, for over $10,000 as a nonfungible token (NFT) using that world's SAND cryptocurrency. Arent Fox helped PwC with that deal and in the process made the decision to enter the world itself. Arent Fox also has helped Discovery Channel, "several NBA teams," and a number of fashion clients, including Diesel and Victoria's Secret, build a presence in the metaverse. Arent Fox is building its own metaverse office in Decentraland, in the Fashion/Retail district "to be close to clients," said Lupo, who was central in developing the firm's successful sector focus in areas such as fashion, retail, sports and media and entertainment.

ACCIDENTAL PRO BONO - For litigators, there is no better feeling than achieving victory on behalf of a client after a hard-fought battle. A close second, however, would be the feeling of getting paid for that work. Unfortunately, that part can be tricky, especially if you're looking for the losing side to foot the bill. As we explore in the latest edition of Law.com's Litigation Trendspotter column, a spate of recent rulings rejecting attorney fee petitions shows the importance of preparation when seeking reimbursement from an opposing party. As we noted in a previous Litigation Trendspotter column, filing an outrageously inflated fee petition is a surefire way to tick off a judge and potentially end up leaving empty-handed (and possibly in ethical trouble). After all, most fee-shifting provisions specify that the fees sought must be "reasonable." But several recent decisions illustrate that even well-intentioned fee applications can end in disappointment if the moving party's expectations are misplaced and/or the evidence supporting the request is lacking. I'm interested to hear from you: what are some best practices for preparing a successful fee petition? Let me know at [email protected].

WHO GOT THE WORK?℠ - Mary A. Smigielski and Michael J. Roman of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith have entered appearances alongside Seyfarth Shaw partner Gerald L. Maatman Jr. for Evident ID Inc. in a pending data privacy class action. The class action accuses Evident of unlawfully tracking and storing users' biometric and personal data with its identity verification software. The suit was filed Dec. 29 in Illinois Northern District Court by McGuire Law. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan H. Lefkow, is 1:21-cv-06911, Smith v. Evident ID Inc. Read the complaint on Law.com Radar and check out the most recent edition of Law.com's Who Got the Work?℠ column to find out which law firms and lawyers are being brought in to handle key cases and close major deals for their clients.

HIGH TECH - Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth filed a copyright infringement lawsuit Monday in Texas Western District Court on behalf of Blaze Solutions, a company that creates software for the cannabis industry. The suit targets BWS Holdings over its software ServiceGanja, contending that it is "substantially similar" to Blaze's 420connect software, including identical code, descriptors and error messages. The complaint also accuses BWS of plagiarizing Blaze's website and blog content. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 6:22-cv-00158, Blaze Solutions, Inc. v. Bws Holdings, LLC et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.  

EDITOR'S PICKS

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

INNOVATION HUB - The pandemic-spurred transition to remote work hasn't just accelerated legal tech adoption in the U.S. Across the world in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, it's also sparked burgeoning demand for Arabic-based legal tech tools, creating a legal tech market bolstered by a strong entrepreneurial spirit, Law.com International's Isha Marathe reports. Over the past four months, for instance, recruiters from the legal tech branch of consultancy firm Jameson Legal saw a sharp spike in the number of legal tech startups from GCC countries reaching out to access their hiring services. "At the beginning, most approaches for our services were coming out of legal tech companies in North America and Europe," said Jon Bartman, the London-based head of Jameson Legal Tech. "Now, we get approached nearly two or three times a week from new startups with innovative products and a vision, anywhere from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain to Kuwait to the UAE, all reaching out for our services."

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