The Strange Case of the FTX Lawyers
Abstract
The role of outside counsel in the collapse of the cryptocurrency firm FTX was extraordinary. As a crisis emerged, the lawyers took control of the enterprise by triggering a criminal prosecution of its management and pushing the client into bankruptcy. Their conduct raises important issues of professional responsibility and bankruptcy law. This brief paper identifies these issues and shows that they have yet to be adequately investigated. It also illustrates some critical ambiguities of corporation law in circumstances of business crisis.