On September 9, Steven Nerayoff, an early adviser to Ethereum, sued law firm Covington & Burling for $100 million, accusing it of negligence in handling his defense in the 2019 U.S. extortion case. Nerayoff claims that Covington's lawyer advised him not to provide key evidence to prosecutors, causing the case to drag on. He provided this evidence in June 2022, and the case was dismissed in May 2023. Covington denies the allegations and says the lawsuit is baseless and will defend firmly.