Cleary Gottlieb partner Matt Solomon was named a “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer’s Litigation Daily for his work representing Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, in a decisive win against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which confirmed XRP, a crypto token, is not a security.
The Q&A highlights the remarkable collaboration between Cleary, securities litigation teams from other firms, and technology law experts that secured the win; Am Law also noted the important contributions of fellow Cleary partner Nowell Bamberger, counsel Alex Janghorbani, and associate Sam Levander.
This victory marks a seminal moment for the entire digital asset industry, which had been limited by a lack of clear governing regulations. Matt took the lead on several arguments during the discovery process, which included uncovering additional information from the SEC that became key evidence for summary judgment. After several years of a particularly aggressive SEC enforcement strategy, the Court’s ruling here sets a significant precedent.
Litigators of the Week are selected by The American Lawyer for their work on recent impactful matters involving new precedents and bold strategies.
Read the full Q&A here.