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Emma E. McGrath

Associate
Emma E. McGrath's headshot
Emma E. McGrath Associate

Emma McGrath focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, white collar defense, and regulatory advisory work for clients primarily in the digital assets and blockchain industries. 

Emma frequently represents parties under investigation by regulatory agencies and the DOJ.  She also represents parties in general commercial litigation and class actions concerning various digital assets.  Her practice also extends to regulatory advisory work, including token launches. 

Prior to joining Morrison Cohen, Emma was an international arbitration associate at Herbert Smith Freehills. While in law school, she was an executive board member of the Fordham Moot Court and a member of the Urban Law Journal.  She also spent a year working as a legal intern at the Fordham Securities Litigation and Arbitration Clinic.

Experience

Regulatory Defense

  • Counsel for an institutional digital assets lending and borrowing platform in SEC enforcement action in federal district court relating to lending and borrowing activity
  • Counsel for a decentralized exchange’s foundation in a New York State Attorney General Martin Act investigation
  • Counsel for multiple cryptocurrency companies in DOJ investigations of other parties’ alleged criminal activity
  • Counsel for a cryptocurrency client in a criminal tax investigation
  • Appellate counsel in Seventh Circuit appeal in a CFTC case concerning the issue of whether certain digital assets are commodities under the Commodity Exchange Act

Commercial and Class Action Litigation

  • Counsel for company in a putative class action involving the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance
  • Counsel for art gallery and other individuals in a putative class action in the Southern District of New York alleging breach of contract and breach of consumer protection statute in connection with NFT collection
  • Counsel for a digital assets wallet software company in an action brought by a user affected by a malicious third party
  • Counsel for a blockchain company supporting cross-chain payment infrastructure in an action brought by a user affected by a malicious third party
  • Counsel for multiple companies associated with an EB-5 offering in connection with allegations of the sale of unregistered securities

Amicus Briefs

  • Counsel for Crypto Council for Innovation and Blockchain Association in the Western District of Texas arguing that airdrops are not securities, in support of Beba LLC and DeFi Education Fund in their lawsuit against the SEC and Gary Gensler
  • Counsel for Paradigm Operations LP in the Northern District of Texas arguing that the SEC’s new “Dealer Rule” would improperly extend to the digital assets industry, in support of the Crypto Freedom Alliance of Texas and Blockchain Association’s lawsuit against the SEC and Gary Gensler
  • Counsel for Blockchain Association and DeFi Education Fund in the Western District of Texas regarding the SEC’s Consolidated Audit Trail, in support of Erik Davidson, John Restivo and National Center for Public Policy Research’s lawsuit against the SEC, Gary Gensler and Consolidated Audit Trial, LLC

Recognition

Fordham University School of Law

  • Ruth Whitehead Whaley Scholar
  • Executive Board Member, Fordham Moot Court
    • Earned First Place Overall and Best Respondent Brief at the University of San Diego National Criminal Procedure Tournament
  • Negotiation Team, Fordham Dispute Resolution Society
  • Fordham Urban Law Journal
Emma E. McGrath's headshot

Practices

Sectors

Education

  • Cornell University, B.A.
  • Fordham University School of Law, J.D., cum laude

Bar Admissions

  • New York
  • Southern District of New York
  • Eastern District of New York

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