FTX’s former law firm, celebrity endorsers aim to dismiss lawsuits

FTX’s former law firm Fenwick & West has denied any knowledge of wrongdoing within the FTX empire in a motion to dismiss a class action suit brought by FTX investors alleging that the law firm aided and abetted FTX’s fraud. 

While the complaint against Fenwick & West claimed the law firm “...provided services to the FTX Group entities that went well beyond those a law firm should and usually does provide,” in the motion, the firm claims it only operated within the scope of its representation for FTX and had no knowledge of any alleged fraud. 

In response to one particular piece of evidence, an email from key FTX attorney Daniel Friedberg which informed Fenwick, “[s]ome FTX cash and crypto is held by Alameda for the benefit of FTX customers,” the law firm claims that the email does not “...plausibly allege that Fenwick knew of FTX’s alleged violation.

FTX marketers seek relief in separate motion

Several of the high-profile celebrities FTX once employed as marketers, including Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Stephen Curry, Larry David, Shaquille O’Neal, David Ortiz, and Naomi Osaka, filed a separate motion to dismiss the litigation against them, which similarly alleges that the defendants collaborated in the FTX fraud. 

Yet the plaintiffs “do not allege a single fact supporting their contention” that the celebrities participated in the “secret FTX scheme orchestrated by a small handful of FTX insiders,” the motion claims. 

Earlier this week, three FTX marketers settled the cases against them: Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and YouTube influencers Kevin Paffrath and Tom Nash. The terms of the settlements remain undisclosed. 

Both Fenwick & West and the celebrities have requested a hearing on their motions to dismiss the litigation against them.