Overview
- Fenwick & West filed a preliminary agreement to pay $54 million to settle a class action by former FTX customers, a deal recorded in a Miami federal court on May 22, 2026 and now awaiting a judge’s approval.
- Plaintiffs say Fenwick went beyond routine advice by helping design corporate structures and so-called shadow entities that let FTX commingle customer funds and evade oversight.
- The firm says it was unaware of any fraud, denies wrongdoing, and entered the settlement without admitting liability, while lead plaintiffs’ lawyers including David Boies called the deal reasonable to avoid protracted litigation.
- A separate and much larger $525 million lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C. against Fenwick and some individual partners remains active and could add substantially to the firm’s exposure.
- The settlement is part of a wider effort to recover customer losses after FTX’s 2022 collapse and may alter how law firms assess liability, insurance costs, and the risks of advising fast‑growing crypto clients.