📌 MAROKO133 Update crypto: The 15 Lawyers and Firms Fighting Crypto’s Biggest Lega
Every major regulatory victory, landmark court ruling, and every piece of legislation that shaped the crypto industry has a lawyer behind it. They’re a big driver behind the mainstream acceptance of digital assets. But 15 firms and individual lawyers have carved out their place in modern financial history.
They wrote briefs, argued cases, testified before Congress, and built the legal frameworks that enabled institutional capital to enter crypto with confidence.
From the landmark Ripple Vs SEC case, the regulatory victory of Coinbase, to policy papers that now appear in Senate testimony, here are the 15 biggest lawyers fighting crypto’s legal battles.
| Rank | Nominee | Type | Base | Landmark Case | Credentials & Track Record | Why on the List |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sullivan & Cromwell | Firm | New York, USA | FTX bankruptcy lead counsel | Major SEC defense;
$180M+ approved FTX fees; Chambers Band 2 Crypto-Asset Disputes |
Led the largest crypto bankruptcy to date.
The FTX restructuring stands as the most complex legal mandate the industry has seen. |
| 2 | Davis Polk & Wardwell | Firm | New York, USA | Block.one EOS securities settlement | Chambers Band 1 in Crypto-Asset Disputes and FinTech Blockchain;
Robert Cohen (ex-SEC Crypto Unit head) |
The only firm ranked Band 1 across both core crypto legal categories.
Deep regulatory ties and top-tier institutional mandates. |
| 3 | Latham & Watkins | Firm | Los Angeles, USA | Global DeFi, DAO, and NFT defense | Chambers Band 1;
Multi-agency matters (SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, OFAC) |
Handles more DeFi and DAO mandates than any peer.
Strong cross-border execution across US, EU, and Asia. |
| 4 | Debevoise & Plimpton | Firm | New York, USA | Ripple SEC defense | Chambers Band 1;
Andrew Ceresney (ex-SEC enforcement director) |
Played a central role in the Ripple case that reshaped how courts treat secondary-market token sales. |
| 5 | Cleary Gottlieb | Firm | New York, USA | Garlinghouse & Larsen SEC defense | Chambers Band 2;
Matthew Solomon (ex-SEC litigation chief) |
