header-logo header-logo

The metaverse & me

228896
As virtual worlds continue to expand, so do the avenues for legal disputes within them: Jacqueline Watts explains why lawyers should get to grips with the metaverse

Many legal practitioners still dismiss the metaverse as either a gaming platform with no real-world impact, or a tech fad destined to fade like others before it. This view overlooks its rapid evolution and growing significance.

For lawyers, understanding the metaverse is no longer optional. Platforms like Roblox already host vast, interactive economies where real transactions and social interactions occur daily. The industrial metaverse is reshaping how people live, work and connect; from training surgeons in immersive environments to building digital twins. With users transacting, socialising and even bequeathing virtual digital assets in these environments, legal oversight is essential.

With this evolution comes the inevitable rise in disputes. Whether triggered by commercial disagreements, intellectual property (IP) infringement, virtual asset theft or avatar misconduct, the need for effective litigation and dispute resolution mechanisms in respect of the metaverse is no longer theoretical. Despite new technologies, people still want to turn

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team

Excello Law—Heather Horsewood & Darren Barwick

Excello Law—Heather Horsewood & Darren Barwick

North west team expands with senior private client and property hires

Ward Hadaway—Paul Wigham

Ward Hadaway—Paul Wigham

Firm boosts corporate team in Newcastle to support high-growth technology businesses

NEWS

NOTICE UNDER THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925

HERBERT SMITH STAFF PENSION SCHEME (THE “SCHEME”)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND BENEFICIARIES UNDER SECTION 27 OF THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
Law firm HFW is offering clients lawyers on call for dawn raids, sanctions issues and other regulatory emergencies
From gender-critical speech to notice periods and incapability dismissals, employment law continues to turn on fine distinctions. In his latest employment law brief for NLJ, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School reviews a cluster of recent decisions, led by Bailey v Stonewall, where the Court of Appeal clarified the limits of third-party liability under the Equality Act
Non-molestation orders are meant to be the frontline defence against domestic abuse, yet their enforcement often falls short. Writing in NLJ this week, Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer and Oliver Kavanagh analyse why the criminalisation of breach has failed to deliver consistent protection
Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961
back-to-top-scroll