Lewis Cohen is confident that Judge Torres’ ruling will not be reversed on appeal, as he slams people who think otherwise.
Lewis Cohen, a prominent corporate attorney and co-founder of DLx Law, is confident that Judge Analisa Torres’ decision in the SEC v. Ripple case will not be reversed.
During a Crypto-Law interview yesterday, Deaton sought Cohen’s opinion on circulating predictions that the ruling will be overturned.
“As someone who knows the law as you do, what’s your response when someone says, ‘Oh, it’s inconsistent, so she got it wrong,'” Deaton asked.
In response, Cohen said people predicting that Judge Torres’ ruling will be overturned are “sore losers.” According to the attorney, these projections are “balderdash.”
The fact on #XRP ruling! ?
S/O @JohnEDeaton1 and Lewis Cohen. ???? https://t.co/gKMwEh6rLN pic.twitter.com/PRn7zmiAre
— ⭕ RIZ ☀️ (@RizXRP) July 18, 2023
Cohen noted that these critics are currently “grasping at straws,” referring to the SEC’s attempt to save itself from the resounding defeat it suffered against Ripple. “You got it wrong, and now you’re kind of grasping at straws here,” Cohen remarked.
Deaton Shares Same Sentiment
It is worth noting that Attorney Deaton is also confident that the Second Circuit will not overturn Judge Torres’ decision.
During an exchange with Fox Business’ Senior Correspondent Charles Gasparino, Deaton said securities lawyers predicting Ripple’s loss on appeal are wrong.
He recounted how these securities lawyers previously predicted that the SEC would get a total victory in the Ripple lawsuit. However, Ripple and the SEC got a split victory, and XRP was declared a non-security.
Controversy Trails Judge Torres’ Ruling
There has been much controversy regarding Judge Analisa Torres’ SEC v. Ripple lawsuit decision. Cohen’s interview on Crypto Law comes on the back of this growing controversy. Many securities lawyers have criticized the ruling, asserting the decision is inconsistent.
It is worth noting that Judge Torres ruled that Ripple’s past direct XRP sales to institutional clients as securities. This is because institutional investors expected the blockchain company to use the capital it received to improve the entire XRP ecosystem, thus increasing the asset’s price.
On the other hand, the judge found that the company’s programmatic XRP sales are not securities. According to the judge, these retail investors do not expect to gain directly from Ripple’s efforts.
Consequently, several securities lawyers, including Marc Fagel and John Reed Stark, asserted that the ruling is inconsistent. In a LinkedIn analysis, Stark noted that the judge’s ruling suggests that XRP can be a security sometimes and not a security at other times.
Stark speculated that the ruling “resides on shaky ground” and will be reversed on appeal. Interestingly, Fagel also shared a similar sentiment.
As reported by Crypto Basic, Fagel noted that the SEC has a better chance of having the judge’s decision on XRP programmatic sales reversed.
Meanwhile, there is no confirmation on the next action the SEC would take regarding the ruling. Although SEC Chair Gary Gensler said the Commission is disappointed with the verdict, he did not reveal whether it will appeal.