Law Firm Roche Freedman Removed from Class Action Against Tether and Bitfinex

A New York judge on Thursday removed law firm Roche Freedman from representing plaintiffs in a class action that accuses crypto exchange Bitfinex and $USDT issuer Tether of market manipulation, Bloomberg reports.

Previously, Crypto Leaks, a self-described "whistleblower" website, released a video which showed Kyle Roche, founding partner of Roche Freedman, said that his firm had a deal with Ava Labs, the developer of Avalanche. Under the deal, Roche Freedman would collect confidential information of rival companies and file class action lawsuits against them in return for $AVAX and Ava Labs corporate stock.

At Thursday's hearing, Katherine Polk Failla, a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York, said that Roche Freedman's continued participation in the case could derail litigation. She said she would modify her initial lead counsel appointment to remove the firm. At another hearing held on October 3rd, Katherine Polk Failla called Kyle Roche's comments in the video "uniquely stupid".

After the Crypto Leaks video was released, Roche Freedman barred Kyle Roche from the class action practices. But Bitfinex and Tether still proposed removing the firm from the case. According to Bloomberg, Roche Freedman faces disqualification motions in at least four other cases.