Jurisdiction, Remedies, and other Challenges in Crypto-Related Litigation (Presented by the Federal Bar Association’s Professional Development Committee)

Andrew C. Adams, Esq., Partner | Steptoe LLP

Andrew C. Adams is a partner in Steptoe’s New York office, where he advises companies and individuals in government and internal investigations, corporate governance, and white collar and regulatory matters. His practice places particular emphasis on anti-money laundering compliance, U.S. economic countermeasures, and national security crisis response. Andrew brings firsthand government experience of exceptional distinction to his practice: he served as the inaugural Director of the Department of Justice’s Task Force KleptoCapture, a multiagency task force created to enforce economic sanctions and export controls imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prior to that role, he served as acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s National Security Division, overseeing sanctions, export controls, and national security cyber investigations. Earlier, he served as a prosecutor and co-chief of the Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

• Education & Credentials

Andrew is a licensed attorney whose credentials are defined by a distinguished career at the highest levels of federal law enforcement and national security. His roles as inaugural Director of DOJ Task Force KleptoCapture and acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division reflect institutional trust of the rarest kind. Before government service, he worked as a litigation associate at an international law firm headquartered in New York. His expertise spans AML compliance, sanctions and export controls, transnational organized crime, cryptocurrency platforms, sport integrity, and cultural property fraud — a range of subject matter credentials that reflect sustained engagement with the most complex financial and national security issues facing practitioners today. (Specific academic credentials are not included in the provided biography.)

• Recognition & Leadership

Andrew’s government career represents some of the most significant leadership positions available to a federal prosecutor. As the inaugural Director of DOJ Task Force KleptoCapture, he led the country’s primary multi-agency enforcement response to Russian sanctions evasion following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine — a nationally prominent role that drew on every dimension of his expertise in financial crimes and national security. As acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s National Security Division, he held supervisory authority over the Division’s sanctions, export control, and national security cyber programs. His prosecutorial record at SDNY includes the first criminal case charged under the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act and a series of landmark money laundering and racketeering prosecutions — a body of work that defines his standing as one of the country’s most accomplished financial crimes and national security attorneys.

• Professional Involvement

At Steptoe, Andrew advises clients navigating government investigations, AML compliance programs, sanctions and export control exposure, and national security crisis response — bringing the perspective of a former senior DOJ official who has been on the other side of these matters at the highest levels. His investigative and prosecutorial experience spans financial institutions integrity, transnational organized crime, sophisticated money laundering through traditional and cryptocurrency platforms, sport integrity, and cultural property fraud. His prior service as an asset forfeiture coordinator at SDNY adds a civil and criminal forfeiture dimension to a practice already defined by exceptional breadth and depth in complex financial and national security matters.

• Experience

Andrew Adams’s career moves from international law firm litigation practice to one of the most consequential federal prosecutorial careers of his generation. At SDNY, he rose to co-chief of the Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit, prosecuting major cases at the intersection of sophisticated transnational crime and opaque financial networks. He then served as acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General in DOJ’s National Security Division before being tapped as the inaugural Director of Task Force KleptoCapture — the government’s flagship response to Russian sanctions evasion. The breadth of his prosecutorial record, from crypto money laundering to anti-doping law to looted antiquities, reflects a practitioner whose command of financial crimes and national security is without peer among practitioners now in private practice. At Steptoe, he brings that record to bear for clients facing the most complex government enforcement and compliance challenges.

Timothy Grinsell, PhD, Esq., Of Counsel | Reitler Kailas & Rosenblatt LLC

Timothy Grinsell is Of Counsel at Reitler, where he represents clients in complex commercial litigation and counsels startups, founders, and venture capital investors in the blockchain and digital assets space. His practice spans securities class actions, crypto theft recovery, corporate governance disputes, internal investigations, and financial services disputes. Prior to joining Reitler, Timothy co-founded Hoppin Grinsell LLP, a Chambersrecognized litigation boutique focused on blockchain and digital assets disputes. He previously litigated major commercial matters at Holwell Shuster & Goldberg and O’Melveny & Myers. Timothy holds a PhD in linguistics from the University of Chicago and continues to publish on the application of linguistic analysis to legal interpretation — bringing a genuinely distinctive analytical framework to the interpretation and strategy questions at the heart of complex commercial litigation.

• Education & Credentials

Timothy holds a Juris Doctor and a Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics from the University of Chicago — a combination that sets him apart from virtually every commercial litigator in the blockchain and digital assets space. His PhD research and ongoing publications on linguistic analysis applied to legal interpretation give him an analytical toolkit that is directly applicable to the contract, statute, and regulatory interpretation questions that arise at every stage of complex financial disputes. His legal credentials include experience at two leading commercial litigation firms — O’Melveny & Myers and Holwell Shuster & Goldberg — before co-founding Hoppin Grinsell LLP, which earned Chambers recognition for its blockchain and digital assets litigation practice.

• Recognition & Leadership

Timothy’s co-founding of Hoppin Grinsell LLP, which earned Chambers recognition as a litigation boutique in the blockchain and digital assets space, represents a significant professional achievement in one of the most rapidly evolving and competitive areas of commercial litigation. His ongoing scholarly publishing on the application of linguistic analysis to legal interpretation reflects recognition of his expertise beyond the courtroom — in academic and professional legal communities where the interpretive questions underlying crypto and digital asset disputes are actively being worked out. His combination of elite law firm experience, boutique litigation leadership, and doctoral-level linguistic expertise makes him one of the most distinctively credentialed practitioners in his field.

• Professional Involvement

Timothy’s professional involvement spans active litigation practice, scholarly publication, and client counseling at the frontier of blockchain and digital assets law. At Reitler, he handles securities class actions, crypto theft recovery, corporate governance disputes, internal investigations, and financial services matters — while also advising startups, founders, and venture capital investors navigating the regulatory and transactional landscape of digital assets. His continuing publication on linguistic analysis and legal interpretation reflects an intellectual engagement with the foundational interpretive questions that define how courts and regulators approach novel issues in blockchain law, and his prior leadership at a Chambersrecognized boutique reflects deep investment in the professional development of this emerging practice area.

• Experience

Timothy Grinsell’s career combines the rigorous commercial litigation training of O’Melveny & Myers and Holwell Shuster & Goldberg with the entrepreneurial leadership of co-founding Hoppin Grinsell LLP — a Chambers-recognized boutique he built around the emerging field of blockchain and digital assets disputes. That firm experience, now brought to Reitler, spans securities class actions, crypto theft recovery, corporate governance, internal investigations, and financial services litigation. His University of Chicago PhD in linguistics adds an analytical dimension that is genuinely rare: his published research on linguistic analysis applied to legal interpretation informs how he approaches the statutory, contractual, and regulatory interpretation questions that arise in every complex dispute he handles. The result is a practitioner whose depth in digital assets litigation is matched by an intellectual framework for legal analysis that sets his advocacy apart.

Jenny Vatrenko, Esq., Principal | Vatrenko Law P.C.

Jenny Vatrenko is the principal of Vatrenko Law P.C., where she represents both plaintiffs and defendants in complex commercial disputes — from inception through trial — involving securities, digital assets and cryptocurrencies, and class actions across the United States and internationally. Her Securities and Investor Protection practice is dedicated to recovering assets for investors and holding bad actors in the cryptocurrency industry accountable. Beyond litigation, Jenny develops creative legal strategies to advance her clients’ business goals and advises on litigation risk and the implications of sensitive business decisions. She brings nearly a decade of experience as a commercial litigator at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and as a criminal prosecutor at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office to a practice defined by high-quality, personalized representation with flexible fee arrangements.

• Education & Credentials

Jenny is a licensed attorney whose credentials reflect nearly a decade of experience at two of the most demanding legal institutions in New York — Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, one of the country’s premier litigation firms, and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, where she served as a criminal prosecutor. Her dual background in sophisticated commercial litigation and criminal prosecution gives her a versatile and battle-tested skillset that she now applies to securities disputes, cryptocurrency enforcement matters, and complex class actions on both sides of the docket. Her founding of Vatrenko Law P.C. reflects the entrepreneurial initiative and client service philosophy she has developed across her career. (Specific academic credentials are not included in the provided biography.)

• Recognition & Leadership

Jenny’s founding of Vatrenko Law P.C. — a boutique focused on securities, cryptocurrency, and complex commercial litigation — reflects the professional confidence and client trust she developed over nearly a decade at Boies Schiller Flexner and the Brooklyn DA’s Office. Her practice’s focus on investor asset recovery and cryptocurrency industry accountability places her among the practitioners shaping the enforcement landscape in one of the law’s most rapidly evolving areas. Her willingness to represent both plaintiffs and defendants, and to handle matters from inception through trial on both domestic and international fronts, reflects the breadth and versatility that define a practitioner of genuine distinction in the commercial disputes space.

• Professional Involvement

At Vatrenko Law P.C., Jenny is engaged in securities litigation, digital assets and cryptocurrency disputes, investor protection, and complex class actions across U.S. and international forums. Her practice extends beyond pure litigation to include strategic business counseling — advising clients on litigation risk assessment and the legal implications of sensitive business decisions in the digital assets space. Her ability to offer flexible fee arrangements alongside the quality of representation associated with her Boies Schiller and Brooklyn DA pedigree reflects a client-centered philosophy that makes sophisticated litigation accessible to a broader range of clients than traditional BigLaw structures typically allow.

• Experience

Jenny Vatrenko’s path to founding Vatrenko Law P.C. runs through nearly a decade of demanding legal experience on both the civil and criminal sides of complex financial disputes. Her tenure at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP — one of the country’s most accomplished commercial litigation firms — gave her the training, exposure, and trial experience that define elite civil litigators. Her time as a criminal prosecutor at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office complemented that civil background with the courtroom discipline and investigative instincts that sharpen any litigator’s advocacy. She now applies both skill sets to securities, cryptocurrency, and class action matters at Vatrenko Law P.C., representing investors seeking asset recovery, defendants facing enforcement actions, and businesses navigating the complex legal landscape of the digital assets industry — with the personalized attention and strategic creativity that distinguish boutique

SESSION 1 – Jurisdiction and Service | 2:00pm – 2:25pm

Establishing personal jurisdiction over pseudonymous wallet holders presents unique challenges that traditional service rules weren’t built to handle. This session examines how courts are resolving these threshold questions and what practitioners must do to protect their clients’ cases from the start.

SESSION 2 – Temporary Restraining Orders and Preliminary Injunctions | 2:25pm – 2:35pm

When cryptocurrency assets can vanish in seconds, securing emergency relief is critical. This session covers the legal standards, strategic timing, and procedural hurdles attorneys must navigate to successfully obtain — or defeat — injunctive relief in crypto disputes.

SESSION 3 – Other Issues in Equitable Remedies | 2:35pm – 2:50pm

From constructive trust claims to blockchain forensics and cross-border injunction enforcement against foreign exchanges, equitable remedies in crypto litigation demand a sophisticated, multi-layered approach. This session equips attorneys with practical tools for pursuing and preserving client recoveries across complex scenarios.

SESSION 4 – Valuation Issues | 2:50pm – 2:55pm

Cryptocurrency’s extreme price volatility creates serious challenges when calculating damages and establishing value at the right moment. This session addresses the methodologies and expert considerations attorneys need to effectively argue — or challenge — valuation in active crypto litigation.

SESSION 5 – Joint and Several Liability | 2:55pm – 3:00pm

Determining liability among multiple actors in decentralized crypto ecosystems is rarely straightforward. This session explores how courts are applying joint and several liability principles to crypto disputes, with practical implications for both plaintiff-side recovery strategy and defense.