We have an unparalleled blockchain and digital asset litigation and regulatory practice.  Our experience in litigation, regulatory investigations defense, and counseling gives us deep and diverse perspectives on the ever-changing regulatory and technological crypto environment.  Our client base includes blockchain platform companies; layer one developers; leading digital asset venture and investment funds; digital asset exchanges; digital asset companies with regulated custodial services; digital asset financial services companies; founders of and investors in digital asset companies; artists, IP holders, and collectors in the NFT space; more traditional tech companies acting in the space; and cryptocurrency miners.  We have guided clients to successful resolution of pre-litigation disputes, victories in public litigation and private arbitrations, and successful outcomes in government and regulatory investigations and enforcement actions.  We advise clients in how to structure their business to avoid or mitigate regulatory and litigation risk.

We advise clients regarding the distinctive issues the digital asset industry faces – driven by the incredible innovations the blockchain revolution creates every day.  We see regulators stretching to try to apply old-world rules to cutting edge platforms and projects.  Companies struggle to address the tension between pure decentralization and the support necessary to enable a project to succeed, knowing that the chosen balance point may impact regulatory investigations and potential civil liability.  We see developers writing smart contracts that ostensibly establish a complete set of rules making source code the definitive law -- “code is law” -- only to later discover that gaps need to be filled, or a glitch creates unintended consequences.  We see well-intentioned developers facing potential liability for bugs in code they have contributed to public blockchains that the developers do not own.  Artists seek to protect their intellectual property rights from unscrupulous NFT minters, while innovators seek to turn NFTs into bundles of rights that go well beyond simply collectable images.  DAOs (decentralized autonomous organization), which have been around for some years, are now viewed as a potentially revolutionary way to organize in a decentralized way.  But the legal implications of those organizations – for example, the potential liability of members for the acts of the organization – is presently unclear.  DeFi (decentralized finance) is overtaking large swaths of activity traditionally carried out by centralized and highly-regulated entities, and regulators are scrambling to inject controls into the space.  The list goes on and on, with new issues emerging all the time.

Of course, many legal issues we see are similar to what we see in other developing tech areas – such as founders’ disputes; employment and equity compensation disputes; tortious interference between competitors; breach of contract cases; acquisition and spinoff-related disputes; traditional IP battles; and early-stage investor disputes. We have litigated them all.   

We stand ready to bring our substantial experience, knowledge, and success rate to help those in the digital asset industry navigate these and other issues.  Our digital asset practice leaders include individuals with extensive trial, regulatory, and white collar experience, and deep knowledge of digital assets.  For example, Dave Grable is a former federal prosecutor who has litigated numerous significant, high-stakes claims involving digital asset companies, in public litigation and private arbitrations where the amounts at stake have reached into the 11-figure range; Michael Liftik is the former Deputy Chief of Staff at the SEC, where he helped develop the agency’s earliest policy responses to digital assets, and who has represented many companies and individuals in ongoing SEC and CFTC digital asset investigations and private securities class action litigation; Katherine Lemire is the former Executive Deputy Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, where she oversaw all investigations and enforcement actions into virtual currency businesses and served as a member of the Virtual Currency Licensing Committee; and Alex Spiro is a former prosecutor who specializes in white collar crime and an array of complex issues in a wide range of industries.  Many other firm lawyers have expertise relevant to digital assets, both on the regulatory side and in civil disputes.

Our digital asset practice can help you or your company stay on the right side of the emerging law.  As the world’s best and most feared trial lawyers, we are ready to handle the broad spectrum of issues that you and your company face.