Law firms eye fees in Coinbase case

By rahmat hidayat

Friday, June 13, 2025

The Afternoon Docket

A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

By Sara Merken

What's going on today?

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with a severely epileptic girl who is pursuing a disability discrimination lawsuit against a Minnesota public school district in a ruling that bolsters protections for students with disabilities in American schools.
In other news: The DOJ filed a lawsuit challenging a New York state law that blocks immigration officials from arresting individuals at or near New York courthouses; Kennedy's new vaccine adviser was an expert witness in litigation against Merck's Gardasil vaccine; and Tesla accused one of its former engineers and his startup of stealing trade secrets related to its robot project.

Oregon contract shows law firms' stake in Coinbase securities fight

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Law firms Cohen Milstein and Keller Rohrback stand to receive up to a quarter of any settlement or judgment resulting from a lawsuit Oregon brought against Coinbase, according to their contract with the state. Reuters obtained a copy of the contract through a records request.

Oregon hired the class action firms and sued Coinbase in April, alleging that the cryptocurrency exchange has been profiting off the sale of high-risk and unregistered securities to its residents in violation of state law. Coinbase has denied wrongdoing.

The state is seeking a fine of $20,000 per violation of its securities law, as well as an unspecified amount of damages and the disgorgement of Coinbase's profits from Oregon residents.

This week's Billable Hours also includes Debevoise's new non-equity partnership tier, Elon Musk's failed effort to stop Bernstein Litowitz from hiring an ex-SEC lawyer, and more. Read it here.

More top news

Prosecutors told to prioritize, publicize cases tied to Trump immigration protests

Broken glass lies on the floor after stores were looted following days of protests against federal immigration sweeps and the deployment of the California National Guard and U.S. Marines, in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 10, 2025. REUTERS/David Ryder

The DOJ ordered federal prosecutors to prioritize criminal prosecution of protesters who destroy property or assault law enforcement and to make sure every case they bring gets publicized, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.

The email, which was sent to all 93 U.S. Attorneys' offices, comes a week into a wave of protests that started in Los Angeles and have spread to other major cities against President Trump's immigration crackdown. Trump has dispatched some 700 U.S. Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, saying they are needed to back up immigration raids.

In other news ...

More than 290 people were killed when an Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad … The U.S. labor market is losing momentum … French cognac makers offered China minimum import prices to fend off tariffs … President Trump said he won't fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell but "may have to force something" on rates.

Contact

Sara Merken

sara.merken@thomsonreuters.com

@saramerken

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