Overview
Justin Wales serves as co-leader of the firm’s Blockchain and Digital Currency Practice. He represents a wide range of blockchain, fintech, and financial services clients on fundraising and regulatory matters, including executing compliant token offerings. A recognized leader in the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry and early cryptocurrency adopter, Justin provides business and technical product counseling for his clients, as well as advice regarding domestic and international corporate formation options, intellectual property protection, and other general corporate matters. He speaks and writes often about the intersection between law and technology, and authors the premier treatise, published by Thomson Reuters, on the application of state rules on blockchain and virtual currency businesses.
Justin is also an experienced litigator who serves clients with constitutional and intellectual property disputes, including First Amendment, trade secret, and access to government-held information claims, as well as defense counsel for his financial services or cryptocurrency clients.
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Experience
Blockchain and Virtual Currency Representation
- Represented cryptocurrency exchange in connection with corporate formation and regulatory advice, including issues relating to SEC and CFTC licensure.
- Counseled developers and entrepreneurs on the legal issues pertaining to the development and maintenance of permissionless and permissioned blockchain protocols, including regulatory and corporate advice.
- Represented digital currency exchanges and money transmitters in conducting 50-state analysis of application of state money transmitter rules to cryptocurrency focused-business models.
- Represented cryptocurrency companies before various state regulators in order to obtain or receive clarity on application of state money transmission license.
- Advised numerous digital currency payment processor on issues pertaining to capital formation and early-stage financing, as well as corporate formation issues such as registration in foreign jurisdictions including Gibraltar, Malta, Singapore, Mexico, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Cayman Islands.
- Advised high-frequency/algorithmic trading funds dealing in various digital currencies on issues related to fund formation and regulatory compliance.
- Counsel to several digital currency payment processors on anti-money laundering and "know your customer" compliance.
- Counseled numerous companies in conducting technical analysis, building “minimum viable ecosystems” and token design.
- Pre-litigation and settlement counseling regarding liability associated with attempts to hard fork the Bitcoin blockchain.
- Analysis of securities and other regulatory issues related to token sales, including analysis of regulatory implications of security token offerings, initial coin offerings, token curated registries, airdrops, and applications using the Lightning Network.
- Provided numerous instances of litigation and regulatory mitigation strategies for completed token sales.
- Provided analysis and privacy counseling regarding application of the GDPR and other privacy regulations to data stored on decentralized networks.
First Amendment and Constitutional Representation
- Tracy v. Fla. Atl. Univ., No. 18-10173 (appeal pending, 11th Cir.) and 9:16-cv-80655. Appeal representing professor fired in retaliation for blogging activity and raising facial and as-applied constitutional challenges to school’s vague and viewpoint-discriminatory policy.
- Hurchalla v. Lake Point Phase I & II (appeal pending, Fla. 4th DCA). Representing environmentalist sued for petitioning government regarding concerns about environmental impacts of development project.
- Root v. C. Steven McMillan, John A. Youmans, New Country Motor Cars of Palm Beach, LLC d/b/a Ferrari of Palm Beach, and New Country Motor Car Grp., Inc., No. 50-2016-CA-008921 (Fla. Cir. Ct.) (pending). Counsel to Ferrari defendants in suit brought by employee for defamation, conspiracy to defame, violation of Florida’s Whistleblower Act, and implied duty of good faith and fair dealing.
- Zoological Wildlife Found., Inc. v. Humane Society of the United States, Inc., No. 1:15-cv-23529 (S.D. Fla. 2017). Successful defense of Humane Society in libel suit brought by founder of zoo who was also convicted of multiple felony crimes.
- Henn v. Ferrari N. Am., Inc., No. 0:16-cv-61830 (S.D. Fla. 2016). Defense counsel to Ferrari of North America Inc. in defamation suit. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed suit in response to Ferrari’s motion to dismiss.
- Wollschlaeger. v. Governor, Fla., No. 12–14009 (11th Cir. 2016) (reh'g en banc pending). Counsel for American Bar Association seeking rehearing of panel opinions and seeking en banc affirmance of district court injunction precluding enforcement of Florida Firearm Owners’ Privacy Act.
- Hoefling v. City of Miami, 811 F.3d 1271 (11th Cir. 2016). Reversed district court order dismissing Section 1983 suit of mariner against city that alleged it violated mariner’s Fourth and Fifth Amendment Rights after it seized and destroyed his vessel without notice.
- Obergefell v. Hodges, Nos. 14-556, 14-562, 14-571 and 14-574 (U.S. 2015). Represented the Campaign for Southern Equality and Equality Federation in support of marriage equality before the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Pareto v. Ruvin, No. 2014-1661-CA-01 (Fla. Cir. Ct. 2015). Represented plaintiffs in constitutional challenge to Florida’s same-sex marriage ban.
- Int'l Players Championship v. Matheson, 190 So. 3d 643 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015). Moved for summary judgment on professional tennis center developer’s challenge to decades-old development restrictions on Crandon Park. Decision affirmed by Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal.
- Club Madonna, Inc. v. City of Miami Beach, No. 1:13-cv-23762, 2015 WL 5559894 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 22, 2015), awarding attorneys’ fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 in the amount of $102,460.660; No. 13-23762, DE 45 slip op. (S.D. Fla. 2014), granting dismissal with prejudice in frivolous civil rights action.
- Eisenberg Dev. Corp. v. City of Miami Beach, 95 F. Supp. 3d 1376 (S.D. Fla. 2015), finding entitlement to attorneys' fees and costs pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, 28 U.S.C. § 1927, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, and the court’s inherent authority; No. 13-23620, DE 172 slip op. (S.D. Fla. 2014), granting final summary judgment in favor of defendant; 54 F. Supp. 3d 1312 (S.D. Fla. 2014), granting in part motion for judgment on the pleadings; 1 F. Supp. 3d 1327 (S.D. Fla. 2014), granting in part motion to dismiss.
- Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper v. United States Army Corps of Engineers (2014). Represented various environmental organizations in suit against Army Corps of Engineers challenging their failure to comply with specific Endangered Species Act requirements.