Ripple Attorney Withdraws From SEC Lawsuit, Will It Affect XRP?

A recent development in the ongoing showdown between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has seen the withdrawal of another Ripple attorney from the lawsuit, recent court filings reveal. This comes after a motion was filed earlier in the month for Anna R. Gressel to withdraw as attorney of defendant Ripple Labs.

This recent withdrawal has cast a shadow of uncertainty as holders of XRP ponder on the likely impact of this development.

According to details in the filing made at the District Court for the Southern District of New York on July 27, Ripple is asking for the leave of the court to withdraw Lisa R. Zornberg as an attorney to the defendants in the ongoing XRP vs. SEC lawsuit. 

Ripple is appealing to the court to grant Lisa R. Zornberg of the popular Debevoise & Plimpton LLP permission to withdraw as an attorney in the lawsuit. This is in light of the fact that Lisa R. Zornberg will no longer be working with the law firm from July 31. 

The foremost federal prosecutor was appointed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams as City Hall’s Chief Counsel earlier this week. However, this move does not in any way affect Ripple’s relationship with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP as other attorneys of the firm will continue representing Ripple Labs in the case. 

Ripple has also reiterated that the withdrawal of Lisa R. Zornberg does not in any way affect its interests, including those of CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen.

It’s also important to note that the court had previously approved withdrawal motions for three attorneys Kylie Chiseul Kim, Clayton J. Masterman, and Anna R. Gressel to exit the lawsuit.  

The withdrawal of Lisa R. Zornbergs comes in the wake of Judge Analisa Torres’ referral of the lawsuit to Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn. Magistrate Judge Netburn instructed the SEC and Ripple to reach an agreement on three mutually suitable dates to hold a settlement conference on issues like institutional sales of XRP.

XRP’s price witnessed a surge in the wake of the summary judgment entered in favor of Ripple. The plans unveiled by Ripple have also helped in bolstering investor confidence as the demand for XRP among institutional investors continues to surge.

XRP is currently trading at $0.071, down 0.5% in the last 24 hours according to data from CoinGecko. However, its current price puts it 33% higher than its July opening price of $0.47.