SL Bar Association and Field Fisher Waterhouse host first professionally accredited CPD seminar in a virtual environment
24 July 2008
The world’s first ever seminar in a virtual
environment accredited for CPD points for lawyers has been held in
Second Life. The seminar, the first in a series of five arranged by
the SL Bar Association (SLBA), was given by Field Fisher Waterhouse
technology partner David Naylor, the SLBA’s president. As
part of a joint initiative between the firm and the Virtual Worlds
Law Library, the seminar was accredited for both California
Continuing Legal Education and for Continuing Professional
Development purposes for solicitors in England & Wales.
Entitled “Virtual Worlds,
Legal Issues”, the SLBA’s seminar series was opened with an address
from Paul Marsh, the recently appointed president of the Law
Society of England & Wales. Approximately thirty people
attended from countries including the USA, Mexico, Belgium, the UK
and Australia, including law professors and academics, legal
practitioners, business people, information professionals, bloggers
and digital rights activists.
Paul Marsh said: “I was very pleased to be
invited to take part in the event and launch the first ever seminar
series in Second Life accredited with SRA continuing professional
development points. The Law Society places tremendous
emphasis on the ability of the profession to innovate and embrace
technological change as well as on the importance of effective
legal learning and development. The SLBA’s
initiative resonates with the importance the
Society gives to this."
Field Fisher Waterhouse was the first ever major law firm to establish a presence in
a virtual world, with its Second Life office opening in April
2007. Since its creation in 2003 by US company Linden Labs, Second
Life has gained over seven million members and the real money value
of its economy exceeds the GDP of many nation states.
David Naylor said:
“Second Life provides an excellent platform for collaboration and
immersive communication, so it lends itself to training and
educational events. People from all over the world can use it
to meet and speak with each other without leaving their desks, so
it’s also much greener. Virtual worlds have brought with them an
array of legal issues around digital commerce and consumer
protection, intellectual property exploitation and infringement,
defamation, employment, tax, privacy, competition, and even crime,
and this seminar provided an opportunity for people to update
themselves on all these issues.”
“I hope this initiative will help demonstrate
that modern law firms and lawyers are committed to innovation and
effective, environmentally sound use of technology. It shows that
we are not a profession still stuck in the 19th (or even the 20th)
century, and by engaging with this popular virtual world, the legal
community has also found a great way to engage the next generation
of lawyers.”
For further press information please
contact:
Louise Eckersley, PR Manager,
Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP on +44 (0)20 7861 4120
Notes:
The second seminar in the SLBA programme,
“Intellectual Property Enforcement in Virtual Worlds”, took place
on 22 July and was given by Tamiko Franklin, Director of
International Legal Services for Matijevich Law Offices in
Croatia. It was attended by over thirty people from around
the world.
The remaining seminars in the SLBA programme
are:
- July 29, 2008, 12:00 noon
"Internet fraud," Theophan Paine
1 hour CLE Credit (California)
- September 9, 2008, 12:00 noon
"Trademark infringement in virtual worlds," Legal Writer
1 hour CLE Credit (California)
- September 16, 2008, 12:00 noon
"Legal research on the (free) internet," Cat Galileo
1 hour CLE Credit (California) (approval pending)