Fenwick & West, a renowned Silicon Valley law firm, has denied allegations that it played a role in facilitating a fraud allegedly committed by bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
The law firm has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that its services provided to FTX were standard legal services and that it had no knowledge of any fraudulent activities, Bloomberg first reported.
The motion to dismiss, filed by Fenwick's legal team at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, marks the firm's first public defense against accusations related to its involvement with FTX and its co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.
FTX customers have alleged that Fenwick aided the cryptocurrency company in concealing millions of dollars in funds that were purportedly stolen from them.
In response to these allegations, Fenwick's legal team, led by partner Kevin Rosen, argued that the firm's services for FTX can be distilled into three basic acts.
These include employing lawyers who later joined FTX, forming corporations used by Bankman-Fried for business activities, and providing advice on regulatory compliance related to cryptocurrency trading.
The motion emphasized that a lawyer's representation of a client and familiarity with its employees does not make them privy to the client's internal operations.
It refuted the plaintiffs' claim that Fenwick should be held responsible for providing "routine" and lawful legal services that allegedly contributed to fraudulent schemes, asserting that such a theory of liability contradicts the principles of the legal profession.
Fenwick, recognized for its work with prestigious Silicon Valley giants like Apple, Oracle, and Facebook, highlighted its reputation and integrity in its motion.
The firm expressed its concern that
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