JoAnn Holmes is one of those genuine people that instantly make you feel at ease. Poised, professional and warm, this Atlanta-based Intellectual Property (IP) and Digital Assets attorney is one of relatively few attorneys that has leapt into web3 and the Metaverse. And despite only having been in the space since 2021, she’s already excelling at helping web3 entrepreneurs and organizations identify strategic opportunities, and navigate evolving legal risks.
With a Juris Doctorate and an impressive career spanning more than 20 years, JoAnn has been described as extremely diligent, with a quick, yet thoughtful, approach to problem-solving.
She runs her own practice, Holmes@Law, which she started in 2015. Her two focus areas are digital asset law (NFTs, DAOs, the metaverse, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain tech), and IP, which entails advising clients about traditional intellectual property, as well as IP licensing of brands, content, software, and expertise.
Since transitioning into web3 last year, JoAnn has primarily been helping ‘innovators, brands and creators develop smart web3 strategy, monetize IP and digital assets, and negotiate successful deals.’
As a self-confessed geek (according to her Twitter profile), her legal practice has always focused on technology and IP. She’s worked in intellectual property, global portfolio management, as well as licensing and monetization. These include closing profitable contracts with Disney, Microsoft, and the NFL, managing intangible assets generating more than $2 billion in annual revenue, and overseeing IP portfolios spanning more than 125 countries.
JoAnn’s astute business mindset benefits her clients at different phases of their business. “At the beginning phase − when clients are planning what their product or service offering is going to be in the web3 space, they need visibility around the legal issues that will impact what they’re building. Later, as they grow and scale, they need a trusted legal advisor who can help them understand how the law is evolving.”
Besides helping entrepreneurs to handle legal risks and build the legal architecture to support their business objectives, JoAnn informs them how law changes may impact their web3 businesses.
“The Biden administration has issued a government review of digital assets, so different regulatory agencies in our federal government are going to issue guidance that will impact digital assets.”
Litigation − like the precedent where judges and juries decide on disputes in court cases − will also impact the law of web3.
JoAnn is candid that her incentive for being in this very new web3 law space is because she believes it offers opportunity for more egalitarian, IP-based wealth.
“I’m unapologetic that I love to make my clients money, because the reality is that wealth equals choices and I particularly want women and people of color to have more choices.”
In her view, the Metaverse already exists, remarking that especially young people are actively engaged in building virtual communities.
“The Metaverse is going to create a digital opportunity for us to align around affinity and culture and do what we naturally do as humans.”
As for its impact, JoAnn anticipates it will open opportunities for education and economic positioning that didn’t exist before. However, she’s concerned about the need for more diversity in the space, adding that ‘inclusion must happen by design.’
With lack of education and the need for easier, more friendly user interfaces hampering mass adoption of new digital technologies, JoAnn admits ‘getting involved in the web3 ecosystem can be quite challenging if you don’t know the language, the tools and resources.’
After practising law for 23 years, she never imagined she’d be so thrilled about her career at this stage. “Web3 law is literally changing daily, so there’s no room to rest on your laurels. Besides, this work is such fun intellectually because it requires me to learn and be engaged.”
What about the future? JoAnn is ‘most excited about opportunities for wealth and technology to be distributed to a broader group of people than who have been included in the past.’
In between her busy practice, she’s a committed Christian, dedicating many hours to various community service projects. When not working, JoAnn quips that her ‘favorite indulgences are a spa massage and eating coconut cream pie.’
Her motto − to live with intention – couldn’t be more real than her modest hope for a legacy that everyone she interacts with, ‘will have learnt something and be better for the time spent together.’
JOANN HOLMES’ METAVERSE & WEB3 TIPS
Website: holmesatlaw.com
