FTX Crash: Attorney Says “No” To Represent SBF; Here’s Why

Bankman-Fried will now be represented by David Mills, a criminal law and white-collar crime professor at Stanford University's law school.
By Nishant Shukla
FTX News: US DOJ Appoints Creditor's Committee, SBF Files New Bail Request

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the former CEO of FTX, will no longer be represented by his attorney at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, the white-shoe law firm. Notably, this will be a big blow to the former FTX CEO ahead of the upcoming legal tussle. However, SBF’s attorney has dropped him as a client in just a matter of a week.

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Who will represent SBF now?

As per the reports, Bankman-Fried will now be represented by David Mills, a criminal law and white-collar crime professor at Stanford University’s law school. Interestingly Bankman-father, Fried’s Joseph Bankman, also teaches law at the same law school. As per media reports, Bankman-Fried’s prior legal representative, Martin Flumembaum, dropped him as a client due to unidentified conflicts.

While speaking to Bloomberg Flumembaum said, “we informed Mr. Bankman-Fried several days ago, after the filing of the FTX bankruptcy, that conflicts had arisen that precluded us from representing him.”

Notably, as per legal experts, FTX’s former CEO’s recent public comment over FTX’s crash also may harm his defense.  As a matter of fact, currently, SBF’s actions while working as FTX CEO is being investigated by the Justice Department, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). However, currently, FTX CEO has not been charged with any crimes.

FTX CEO unveils his stand

FTX CEO, John Ray III, claimed in a filing that he did not trust the consolidated asset and liability claims that FTX had prepared under the former CEO. In addition to this, he also labeled him as “potentially compromised” and slams Bankman-Fried’s poor judgment in managing the company’s finances.

Bankman-Fried has made a number of statements in the media, leading Ray to state in the bankruptcy filing that the former CEO has no role in representing FTX and is not currently employed by the company. On Wednesday, FTX released a similar statement.

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Nishant Shukla
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