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21 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 753 (2008)
Living in a Virtual World: Ethical Considerations for Attorneys Recruiting New Clients in Online Virtual Communities

handle is hein.journals/geojlege21 and id is 761 raw text is: Living in a Virtual World: Ethical Considerations for Attorneys Recruiting New Clients in Online Virtual Communities SUSAN CORTS HILL* INTRODUCTION Justin Davis needed a lawyer to help him trademark the name of his jewelry store so he contacted Stevan Lieberman, an intellectual property lawyer with Greenberg & Lieberman, a boutique law firm in Washington, DC, at Lieberman's office.' The name Davis picked for his store was taken, so Lieberman helped him choose a new name and trademark it.2 The catch? Neither the jewelry store nor the jewelry were real.3 And although Lieberman is a real intellectual property lawyer with a real office, Davis didn't find him there.4 He found him in Second Life, an online virtual world. Second Life is one of the largest and most publicized virtual online communities, in which residents are represented by avatars, a graphical representation of their choosing, that can interact, socialize, trade and purchase objects, and provide services.5 In Second Life, residents and vehicles can fly, a house can float, and an avatar can look like a fox, a robot, or a cartoon character as readily as it can look like a digital version of the resident's real self. Even so, life in the virtual community largely reflects real life with many residents participating in real-world activities like shopping, working at virtual jobs, and building and decorating homes.6 Participants can also design and create objects that are traded or sold for virtual currency, which can translate into real-world dollars.7 * J.D., Georgetown University Law Center (expected May 2009). 1. Attila Berry, Lawyers Find Real Revenue in Virtual World, LEGAL TIMES, July 31, 2007. 2. Id. 3. Id. 4. Id. 5. The actual size of the Second Life community is widely disputed. Daniel Terdiman, Counting the Real Second Life Population, CNET NEws.coM, Jan. 3, 2007, http://www.news.comCounting-the-real-Second-Life- population/2100-1043_3-6146943.html. While Second Life's parent company touts over 2 million registered users, about 20,000 participants are online at any given time. Id. 6. Stephanie Francis Ward, Fantasy Life, Real Law, A.B.A. J., Mar. 2007. 7. According to media reports, transactions worth approximately $250,000 take place every day on Second Life. Id. Participants in Second Life can buy virtual currency, known as Linden dollars, and use it to buy and sell goods. Id. Many members make enough money through online transactions to cover the monthly costs of participation in the virtual community as well as their virtual purchases and a few residents sustain themselves on the monthly wages they earn from their Second Life jobs. Id. Real world companies are also getting into the game, although the effectiveness of real world business in the virtual world is still undetermined. Caroline

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