Translator：Zhang Xiaotong

On January 21st, a breakthrough and innovative trial proceeded smoothly, transcending the constraints of time and space: the trial took place in a virtual scene of the metaverse, where judges, plaintiffs, defendants, lawyers, and witnesses engaged as if in a real courtroom setting.

This special trial was organized jointly by Shanghai Landing Law Offices and the Public Legal Service College (Law School) of East China University of Political Science and Law.

In the post-pandemic era, the barriers of time and space are no longer insurmountable gulfs, yet actively exploring new ways of remote communication remains a topic of common concern for universities and enterprises. All faculty and students of the Law School, Class of 2022, participated in this event, leveraging the power of the metaverse to provide students who have not yet stepped out of the campus with a maximally realistic experience of a complete trial process. The limitations of time and space are no longer obstacles, and virtual reality has become a new channel for promoting the integration of industry and education.

01

A New Model of Legal Education: The Organic Integration of Mock Courts and the Metaverse

For a long time, as one of China's first batch of higher political and legal institutions with the reputation of "Oriental Pearl of Legal Education," East China University of Political Science and Law has not only satisfied itself with inheriting a consistent model of legal education but has also innovatively applied metaverse technology to cultivate students' campus practice. Following the successful launch of the metaverse mock court in 2022, Shanghai Landing Law Offices and East China University of Political Science and Law, in collaboration with ARK Metaverse, once again conducted practical explorations of the metaverse mock trial.

The successful hosting of this virtual reality scene simulation trial owes much to the advanced technology and open characteristics of the metaverse platform. As an immersive virtual space parallel to the physical world, the metaverse platform transcends the boundary between virtual and reality, allowing participants to freely explore and learn within it. Meanwhile, its feature of multi-person interaction enables real-time communication and collaboration among participants, driving the progress of the mock court together.

Traditional legal internships, while being the closest to real legal practice work, require a significant amount of time and are difficult to obtain full-time guidance from professional lawyers. Law, as a highly rigorous field, has a high cost of trial and error, especially in the trial process with social effects. However, the emergence of metaverse technology has brought revolutionary changes to legal education. With its unique feature of allowing infinite restarts, the metaverse greatly reduces the cost of mistakes in each mock trial, enabling learners to practice and continuously experiment in a risk-free environment. Professional lawyer teams can also overcome the barriers of time and space to come to the "scene" to provide students with comments and guidance on trial performance and professional knowledge.

More importantly, the high degree of realism created by the metaverse allows learners to gain experience in simulation closer to reality, thereby enhancing the effectiveness and practicality of learning. By constructing a virtual courtroom scene that is as realistic as possible, the metaverse provides unprecedented immersive learning experiences for legal education, injecting new vitality and momentum into the cultivation of legal talents.

02

Metaverse Mock Court: Immersive Experience of Real Trial Scenes

"The second metaverse mock court exceeded my expectations. The students' performance in the trial was highly professional, indicating that they were well-prepared. Overall, compared to the first competition, there has been progress." commented Liu Yixing, Director of the Global Management Committee of Shanghai Landing Law Offices, who served as a judge for the event.

As Director Liu mentioned, the metaverse mock court is not unfamiliar to students of the Law School. As early as 2022, Landing and Hua Zheng had innovatively conducted metaverse trials.

Different from ordinary online mock conferences, the interactive experience of the metaverse mock trial scene is extremely strong. In the metaverse scene, the "digital people" representing the participants are immersed in an online space that is infinitely close to the real courtroom scene on a 1:1 scale. Not only can they communicate directly through video and audio like ordinary online meetings, but they can also increase the sense of immersion in virtual reality by using body movements and 3D scene displacement. All the participating students were deeply impressed by this novel experience.

The advantages of immersive experience, realism, detail restoration, and interactivity provided by the metaverse mock court make it an effective teaching method for legal practice. Conducting mock trials in the metaverse scene, even with remote interaction, gives students a strong sense of being on the scene. It helps students better understand legal knowledge, improve legal skills, and prepare for future legal careers.

With the continuous development of technology, the metaverse, as a cutting-edge technology, brings infinite possibilities and broad prospects for legal education. Shanghai Landing Law Offices has always been at the forefront of the industry, dedicated not only to providing excellent legal services to clients but also to shouldering the responsibility of cultivating a new generation of legal talents, allowing them to thrive in the close integration of theory and practice. In the future, Landing will continue to work with partners from all walks of life to explore new areas of legal technology and contribute more wisdom and strength to the prosperity and development of the legal industry.