User Ordered to Pay $3.5M in Attorney Fees to Morrison Cohen Client ICON Foundation for Maliciously Exploiting Software Bug
On March 3, 2025, Judge William H. Orrick of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ordered Mark Shin to pay Morrison Cohen client ICON Foundation $3.5 million in attorneys’ fees and costs. Shin had sued ICON Foundation – a Swiss foundation formed to develop and support the ICON Network, a blockchain protocol for decentralized applications – after Shin maliciously exploited a software bug in the ICON Network, and was able to erroneously generate and deliver to him nearly 14 million new digital asset tokens.
After ICON Foundation took steps to freeze some, but not all, of the exploited tokens, Shin sued ICON Foundation and asserted various torts including conversion and trespass to chattels, and ICON Foundation asserted counterclaims against Shin for unjust enrichment. On June 6, 2024, the court granted summary judgment in ICON Foundation’s favor, and on March 3, 2025 awarded ICON Foundation its attorneys’ fees and costs.
Judge Orrick’s ruling recognized that ICON Foundation’s legal team “demonstrated a high level of skill and professionalism while litigating in a novel environment without much direct precedent.” He also noted that Morrison Cohen and its co-counsel Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP have “significant experience litigating complex cryptocurrency cases in this district.”
The fees are to be paid from certain tokens originally seized by the FBI and now under the control of a receiver.
The case was covered in a Law360 article, “Blockchain Org. Wins $3.5M Fees from Trader's Seized Assets.”
Jason Gottlieb and Michael Mix represent ICON Foundation, along with attorneys from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP.
Contacts
- Jason P. Gottlieb Partner & Chair, Digital Assets; Chair, White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement
- jgottlieb@morrisoncohen.com
- Michael Mix Partner
- mmix@morrisoncohen.com
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