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A New York judge on Thursday removed Roche Freedman from representing plaintiffs in a class action that accuses the crypto exchange Bitfinex and Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, of market manipulation.
The decision marks a blow for Roche Freedman after videos posted on a website called Crypto Leaks showed founding partner Kyle Roche boasting about the law firm’s relationship with the crypto startup Ava Labs.
Katherine Polk Failla, a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York, said in a hearing Thursday that the firm’s continued participation in the case could derail litigation. She said she would modify her initial lead counsel appointment to remove the firm.
Allowing the firm to continue serving as counsel “with the metaphorical baggage they now carry is not in the best interests of the class,” Failla said.
During an Oct. 3 hearing, Failla called Roche’s comments “uniquely stupid” and pressed his co-founder, Devin “Velvel” Freedman, on the firm’s conduct while litigating the 2019 lawsuit.
Freedman said Roche’s comments were “stupid,” but he argued there was no evidence that Roche Freedman brought a lawsuit to help Ava Labs and that concerns about the law firm abusing discovery were unfounded.
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