Crypto Boutique Law Firm Roche Freedman Removed From Class Action Against Tether

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Lawyer Kyle Roche previously withdrew as counsel on several crypto class-action lawsuits, including the Tether and Bitfinex Crypto Asset Litigation.

The fallout from the leaked Kyle Roche videos has continued after two law firms submitted a document to the court asking that his law firm Roche Freedman be removed as interim co-lead from the Tether and Bitfinex Crypto Asset Litigation.

Roche Freedman are acting for plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit initiated in 2019 alleging Tether and Bitfinex manipulated the crypto market by issuing unbacked USDT.

Kirby McInerney LLP (Kirby) and Radice Law Firm, P.C. (Radice), who are also representing three plaintiffs in the case, submitted the request that Roche Freeman be removed to the court on Sept.5.

In the document, the firms argue they should be substituted as lead counsel on the basis Roche Freedman would distract the court from the investors' claims and "prejudice the rights of the putative class."

"To avoid a sideshow about the adequacy of counsel or the motives and use of litigation and discovery, a new leadership structure is necessary."

The controversy began after a CryptoLeaks exposé, which received wide publicity for its allegations that the videos showed Kyle Roche and Ava Labs had a secret agreement to use lawsuits to harm its competitors.

According to court records released on Aug. 31, Kyle Roche withdrew as counsel on several crypto class-action lawsuits, including the Tether and Bitfinex Crypto Asset Litigation.

Roche Freedman submitted its response on Sept.6, calling the move to have it ousted is an "extraordinary remedy" based on the "recordings of a single lawyer who has since sworn those statements were false or misinterpreted."

"The Firm also took appropriate steps to avoid any appearance of impropriety."

Roche Freedman says it "screened him from this case", and he will "not receive any portion of the proceeds from this litigation."

It argued that should be the end of the matter because "the five named plaintiffs who actually retained the Firm and stand to lose the most if deprived of their counsel of choice."

One of the defendants in the case, Tether, has already requested that Roche's law firm be removed entirely and to certify that it has returned or destroyed all defendant-issued documents and had not shared them with any third-party.

Poloniex, Bittrex Want Kyle Roche’s Law Firm Removed From Class-Action Against the Exchanges

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class-action lawsuit

Bitfinex and Tether’s legal representatives also want the law firm to return or destroy all defendant-issued documents and confirm they haven't been shared.

USDT-issuer Tether wants law firm Roche Freedman “terminated” as counsel from the Bitfinex and Tether class action lawsuit following a motion from Kyle Roche to be removed as counsel in the case.

In an Aug. 31 court order request by Elliot Greenfield of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, the law firm representing Tether and Bitfinex requested that Roche’s law firm be removed from the case entirely and to certify that they’ve returned or destroyed all defendant-issued documents and have not shared them with any third-party, including Ava Labs.

The request follows shortly after Roche submitted a Notice of Motion to Withdraw from the Tether class action lawsuit amid ongoing fallout from a recent CryptoLeaks expose, which alleged the U.S. lawyer had a secret pact to “harm” Ava Labs competitors in exchange for AVAX tokens and Ava Labs equity.

Greenfield said Roche's statements published on the CryptoLeaks website raised a "serious concern" that Kyle Roche “may be abusing the discovery process” and "misusing information" he learns through litigation.

"He states that he is Ava Lab’s 'crypto expert' because he 'sue[s] half the companies in the space' and 'know[s] where this market is going' because he has 'seen the insides of every single crypto company.'”

Greenfield said the concerns are highly relevant to the case, highlighting that Roche Freedman LLP “has served a number of document requests seeking information that has no apparent link to the claims and defenses in this lawsuit.”

The lawyer has also stressed the need for the documents to be repressed, “as they include not only confidential, competitively sensitive information about Defendants’ businesses but also information that, if disclosed, would threaten the privacy and security of Defendants and their customers.”

While Kyle Roche has filed motions to remove himself from the case and others, Greenfield said the withdrawal of Roche “does little if anything to address the serious issues regarding the potential misuse of discovery.”

“Even if he is no longer counsel of record, he would still have access to discovery materials, would retain the ability to direct the conduct of other lawyers at his firm, and would profit from any potential recovery in this lawsuit.”

Greenfield added that the “removal would not prejudice Plaintiffs,” as they would continue to be represented by “two other large and experienced firms” including Selendy Gay Elsberg PLLC and Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky LLP.

The class action lawsuit initiated in 2019 alleged that Tether and Bitfinex manipulated the crypto market by issuing unbacked Tether (USDT) “in an effort to signal to the market that there was enormous, organic demand for crypto commodities.”

Over the last few days, Roche has also withdrawn from the Binance, Solana, Tron, BitMEX, Nexo, and Dfinity lawsuits.

Ava Labs CEO denies CryptoLeaks’ claims as ‘conspiracy theory nonsense’

August 29, 2022 Coin Telegraph

binance lawsuit

The CEO’s comments come after a CryptoLeaks blog post alleged that Ava Labs had a "secret pact" with a U.S. law firm to sue competitors in exchange for AVAX tokens and equity.

Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer has dismissed sensational allegations from CryptoLeaks that his company used litigation to “harm” competitors and fool regulators, labeling it as “conspiracy theory nonsense.”

Sirer made the comments in an Aug. 28 Twitter post to his 280,500 followers, referring to an Aug. 26 article from CryptoLeaks alleging the company formed a “secret pact” with U.S. law firm Roche Freedman to use the American legal system “gangster style” to “attack and harm crypto organizations."

How could anyone believe something so ridiculous as the conspiracy theory nonsense on Cryptoleaks? We would never engage in the unlawful, unethical and just plain wrong behavior claimed in these self-serving videos and inflammatory article. Our tech & team speak for themselves.
— Emin Gün Sirer (@el33th4xor) August 28, 2022

On Friday, CryptoLeaks published a series of candid videos from an unknown source purportedly showing U.S. Attorney Kyle Roche of Roche Freedman LLP detailing his partnership and relationship with Emin Gün Sirer and Kevin Sekniqi, the respective CEO and COO of Ava Labs.

CryptoLeaks claimed that Roche Freedman and Kyle Roche have a deal to provide Ava Labs with legal services in exchange for the AVAX tokens and Ava Labs equity, and would also use “litigation as a tool” to disrupt competitors and misdirect regulators such as the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The publication also said the videos of Roche suggest there was a tight-knit relationship between Roche and Sirer, which began in academia, and that they also moved into a co-working space together in Aug. 2019, around the time that the deal was made for him to provide legal services in exchange for token supply. Roche stated:

“Gün [Sirer] … we did a deal, where I agreed to provide legal services in exchange for a certain percentage of the token supply.”

Another video also shows Roche saying that they “used [litigation services] as a strategic instrument to support Ava Labs.”

“I sue half the companies in this space, I know where this market is going, I believe [I am] one of the top 10 [crypto experts] in this world… I’ve seen the insides of every single crypto company,” according to the video.

This is wild. Not sure if this is true, but assuming the videos are not deep fake...

And of course, #binance was a target. We are not even a competitor.

https://t.co/R5wBtriEBY
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) August 28, 2022

Roche said in one video that he “makes sure that the SEC and CFTC have other magnets [Avalanche competitors] to go after,” adding that “litigation can be a tool to competition.”

Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer vehemently denied the allegations in the article, stating it was “conspiracy theory nonsense” and saying that Ava Labs would “never engage in unlawful, unethical and just plain wrong behavior.”

According to Roche Freedman LLP’s website, Roche employs at least 24 attorneys, with offices situated in New York City, Boston and Miami. Roche attended North Western University School of Law and co-authored “Why Bitcoin is booming” in the Wall Street Journal in Jul. 2017.

Roche Freedman LLP’s was recently involved in a high-profile lawsuit against Solana Labs, Solana Foundation, and Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko on Jul. 1. 2022, claiming that Solana violated U.S. Federal Security laws by offering unregistered securities to U.S. investors.

About two weeks earlier on Jun. 15, Roche Freedman LLP also filed a lawsuit against Binance, claiming that the crypto exchange unlawfully engaged in the sale of UST to investors.

Cointelegraph reached out to Ava Labs for comment, but no immediate response was received.

Kyle Roche