- Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly named John Deaton as Lawyer of the Year.
- The recognition is in light of his role in representing XRP holders in the SEC v Ripple case.
- XRP got legal clarity earlier in July after Judge Analisa ruled that the token itself is not a security.
Prominent pro-XRP US lawyer John Deaton has been named the lawyer of the year by the Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly. Deaton earned this recognition in light of his role in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Blockchain firm Ripple Labs on securities law violations.
John Deaton came into the spotlight following his role as amicus counsel in the Ripple Labs case. Per this endeavor, Deaton represented several individual XRP holders in alerting the court that the SEC does not act for them.
Since then, Deaton has gained prominence as a leading figure in the crypto space and a notable member of the XRP community. Through his action, the lawyer filed several court actions at Rhode Island’s US District Court to protect the interests of individual XRP holders.
In a statement, Deaton said his involvement with the case started following what he saw as a government overreach – SEC’s claims against Ripple. Despite his background as a personal jury lawyer, Deaton said he represented over 75,000 XRP holders from 143 countries and filed nearly 4,000 affidavits.
Earlier in July, the case came to a close following Judge Analisa Torres’s ruling that XRP in itself is not a security. However, the court ruled that institutional sales of XRP did constitute securities. The case is expected to close next year, with Deaton hinting at Ripple paying a fine for the institutional XRP sales.
The expected end of the case would culminate a three-year tussle between Ripple and the SEC. Ripple Labs said the lawsuit significantly hurt its business in that period, as it lost out on partnerships and growth opportunities.
However, following the legal clarity on XRP, Ripple Labs has seen a considerable uptick in partnerships as countries move to the company to issue their CBDC. Conversely, XRP’s price has performed lower than expected, although the token has significantly increased in the past weeks, as per data from CoinMarketCap.
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