A group of 22 major law firms is involved in seven Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases stemming from the massive cryptocurrency crisis that began in 2022, according to experts.
Law firms have received extraordinary fees for their involvement in the bankruptcy of some of the largest cryptocurrency companies, such as FTX, Voyager, BlockFi, Genesis and Celsius.
As of mid-August, four law firms — Sullivan & Cromwell, Kirkland and Ellis, White & Case and Cleary Gottlieb — had earned a combined $484 million, more than half of all fees sought and received in these cases.
The leader in fees was the firm Sullivan & Cromwell, which received the largest payments of $215 million. The company acts as a lawyer for the FTX exchange and charges between $7 million and $10 million per month for its services.
A year earlier, Sullivan & Cromwell reported that such rates were in line with the legal services market and the complexity of the case. The collapse of the largest crypto companies affected tens of thousands of industry participants, and in order to sort everything out within the timeframes established by law, law firms are forced to engage third-party specialists, including experts who earn from $1,400 to $2,165 per hour.
Source: Bits
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