Crypto lawyer Kyle Roche leaves firm weeks after controversial video leak

Crypto law firm Roche Freedman has parted ways with its embattled founding partner, Kyle Roche, after weeks of pervasive controversy spurred by leaked video footage which depicted the prominent lawyer bragging about falsely suing crypto companies, using the legal process to gain access to private data and use it to enrich both himself and blockchain company Ava Labs, one of his clients.

Roche Freedman – which will soon be renamed Freedman Normand Friedland – confirmed on Thursday Decrypt that Roche “is no longer with the company”.

“We wish Kyle the best in his future endeavors,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

In accordance legal documentsRoche had 19% equity in the firm, which was founded in 2019 by a group of lawyers who split from the prominent law firm Boies Schiller Flexner.

Roche, meanwhile, refused to comment on the matter and told Decrypt that he “will let what is posted there speak for itself”.

In late August, the self-proclaimed whistleblower website became Crypto Leaks published videos of Roche drinking in a bar, boasting that he has “seen the inside of every single crypto company” and used that information to benefit Ava Labs, creator of the Avalanche blockchain.

Roche claimed on tape that he had a 1% stake in both Ava Labs and the company’s initial token, AVAX, and that he provided the company with useful information about competitors, gleaned from lawsuits, in a “completely different way than being a lawyer” .”

Roche maintainedin the wake of the leak, that many of the statements he made on the tape were false, and “obtained through deceptive means, including a deliberate plan to intoxicate, and then exploit me.”

Ava Labs founder and CEO Emin Gün Sirer – whom Roche repeatedly referred to in the videos as a close friend and confidante – denied having any personal relationship with the lawyer, and rejected claims made by Roche in the video as “obvious nonsense” and “lies”.

Within a week of the video being published, Roche withdrew from participating in several Roche Freedman class action lawsuits against major crypto companies, including the Tron Foundation and Binance, direct competitors of Ava Labs.

Roche Freedman, meanwhile, appeared to hope the gesture would be sufficient to allow it to remain counsel in those cases, and a number of other class-action lawsuits against prominent crypto companies.

It turned out to be wishful thinking.

Last week, a judge removed Roche Freedman from a class action lawsuit against crypto exchange Bitfinex and stablecoin issuer Tether, calling Roche’s captured comments “uniquely stupid.” The judge further found that because of the ensuing controversy, Roche Freedman now carried too much “metaphorical baggage” to serve as effective counsel for the plaintiffs.

According to internet domain names records, the same day the judge removed Roche Freedman from that lawsuit, the domain freedmannormand.com was registered. It is not activated at the time of writing.