Legal firms aiding crypto exchange FTX through its bankruptcy proceedings earned a whopping $103 million in total over the first quarter.
Five law firms invoiced FTX for a total of nearly $36 million in March, according to court documents filed between April 28 and May 2. This is a little more than the $34.2 million and $32.5 million in January and February, respectively.
The largest payout went to the New York legal firm Sullivan & Cromwell, which charged $14.1 million in fees and expenditures in March, bringing its total for the first quarter to $44.4 million.
Alvarez & Marsal, a consulting firm, finished second, billing more than $13.8 million in March.
Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Landis Rath & Cobb, the other two legal firms, charged FTX $3.19 million and $644,000 in March for totals of $7.3 million and $1.9 million, respectively, throughout the first three months.
The FTX case has been given to more than 180 solicitors from Sullivan & Cromwell, Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, and Landis Rath & Cobb.
Together, these experts devote tens of thousands of hours to avoidance strategies, financial research, and accounting practices.
Even though the past six months have been extremely difficult, FTX hasn’t pulled out the plug yet. In fact, the firm is working to resume operations in a few months.
As reported earlier by TronWeekly, the crypto exchange is planning to get back to business by July after its lawyers told the court they’ve recovered $7.3 billion in liquid assets.
Andy Dietderich, the lead attorney for the exchange informed the court that relaunching was one of many alternatives being evaluated for the future of the firm.
FTX Reboot Plan
Dietderich claimed that choosing this option would require raising a sizable sum of money. He also revealed that the trading firm had an internal debate over whether the funding should come from the FTX estate or from outside sources.
The possibility of allowing some of FTX’s creditors to convert their holdings into shares of a reopened exchange was also discussed. The attorney noted that the decision to restart FTX is just one of many options and is not yet finalized.
“There are as many opinions on this, I think, as there are professionals involved in this case,” Dietderich said. “And that’s a lot.”