Benjamin Duranske Joins Pillsbury’s New Virtual Worlds and Video Games Practice
December 2nd, 2008 by Benjamin Duranske
I am pleased to announce that I have accepted a position with Pillsbury, a global law firm with San Francisco roots and a high-tech history dating all the way back to cutting-edge 1880s telegraph cases. I’ll be helping establish and build Pillsbury’s new virtual worlds and video games practice. It’s a great fit. I am working with Pillsbury remotely now, and I will be joining the Silicon Valley office as an associate with the Intellectual Property practice section in early January.
- Benjamin Duranske’s Profile at Pillsbury
- Pillsbury’s Virtual Worlds and Video Games Team
- Pillsbury’s Intellectual Property Practice
- Pillsbury’s Silicon Valley Office
It’s been an interesting journey to this point. Early last year, I took a break from practice to focus on writing and to develop a deeper understanding of 3D internet technology and associated legal issues. The field didn’t even have a name then, but the emergence of “virtual law” as a specialty seemed inevitable. Besides, I’m an avid gamer, a sci-fi fan, and an unapologetic technology optimist. The chance to merge my interest in the 3D internet, my passion for writing, and my career as an attorney was really appealing.
Since then, interest in virtual law has exploded. Virtually Blind was getting ten or twenty hits a day when I launched the site two years ago, now it gets thousands, mostly from searches. News sometimes has come so quickly that I’ve struggled to keep up. Over the last two years, I’ve written almost 350 posts at Virtually Blind, as well as many articles in mainstream and industry periodicals. I also wrote the first book on this emerging field, Virtual Law: Navigating the Legal Landscape of Virtual Worlds (ABA Publishing, 2008).
Being a full-time commentator at a time like this has been fantastic — a once in a lifetime experience — but I have really missed working with clients. I could not be more excited about now taking a more hands-on approach to legal issues arising from the 3D internet, virtual worlds and online games.
Final Post at Virtually Blind
Returning to practice with a large law firm means that I’ll be somewhat less free to comment on virtual law issues than I was while self-employed. As such, this is the final post at Virtually Blind. The site will remain online as a research resource, but there will be no new content. I will, however, continue writing articles on issues in virtual law; some will be available via Pillsbury’s publications directory, and others will appear in mainstream and industry publications.
Thank You
I cannot overstate my appreciation for Virtually Blind’s readers, commenters, and talented contributing writers. Your regular visits over the last two years kept me posting, and your witty, insightful comments added immeasurably to the site. I will genuinely miss interacting with all of you here. I hope you’ll visit Virtual Law often, and that we will stay in touch. My current contact addresses will all work indefinitely, and you can also reach me at Pillsbury.
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Benjamin Duranske, VB’s editor and author of 

