Steven Nerayoff, an early adviser to the Ethereum network, is suing law firm Covington & Burling for $100 million claiming it mishandled his defense of a 2019 extortion case by the United States.
Nerayoff alleged in a Sept. 6 lawsuit filed in the New York County Supreme Court that he was advised by Covington lawyer Alan Vinegrad not to turn over videos of “negotiations with the alleged victims” and emails and other messages to US prosecutors, which he claimed showed his dealings were “entirely lawful.”
On Sept. 18, 2019, Nerayoff and an associate his blockchain consulting firm Alchemist, Michael Hlady, were arrested and charged with prosecutors alleging they extorted a cryptocurrency startup.
Nerayoff said he gave prosecutors the videos and other evidence in June 2022. The charges were dismissed less than a year later in May 2023.
In the suit, Nerayoff claimed the whole case could have been “staved off” had his Covington attorneys “presented the clearly exculpatory evidence to the prosecutors in the fall of 2019.”
A Covington spokesperson denied the allegations and told Cointelegraph the “lawsuit lacks merit, and we will defend against it vigorously.”
Nerayoff’s legal complaint alleges Covington withdrew from representing him after he was indicted on Jan. 10, 2020, and he then spent the next three years and over $1 million in legal fees.
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Nerayoff’s current attorney Romeo Salta is seeking an amount “to be determined at trial but not less than” $100 million because as a result of the indictment he was unable to “engage in business” and “lost other contracts in the crypto space.”
Nerayoff has filed several other lawsuits this year. In April, he launched a $9.6 billion lawsuit against the government over the alleged malicious way he was investigated and prosecuted during the extortion case.
On July 22, he also launched a $10 million defamation lawsuit against Tyler Fayard, known as “Boring Sleuth” on social media, for allegedly defaming him online.
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