Perkins Coie has announced its inclusion in the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) Legal Industry Working Group. The Legal Industry Working Group—one of eight Working Groups within the EEA, each driven by Blockchain or industry thought leaders—focuses on educating the legal industry about the benefits of Blockchain technology and the development and standardization of core Ethereum-enabled technology.
The EEA is an industry-supported, not-for-profit organization established to build, promote and broadly support Ethereum-based technology best practices, open standards and open source reference architectures. Formed earlier this year, the EEA is helping Ethereum evolve into an enterprise-grade technology, providing research and development in a range of areas, including privacy, confidentiality, scalability and security.
“Perkins Coie, a legal adviser to the EEA since its launch, has been at the forefront supporting evolving Blockchain technology,” said Dax Hansen, Chair of the firm’s Electronic Financial Services and Blockchain Technology & Digital Currency industry groups. “With many innovative firms and institutions as partners in this effort, connecting and working with Fortune 500 corporations, startups and experts in the space will expand overall legal industry knowledge on the unique advantages that Blockchain technology provides. We are honored to be a member of the EEA Legal Industry Working Group.”
“The focus of the EEA Legal Industry Working Group dovetails with Perkins Coie’s efforts in advising our financial services clients on the diverse uses of Blockchain technology,” said Rick Howell, Perkins Coie’s Chief Information Officer. “Blockchain technology’s potential for changing the legal, financial, regulatory and technological landscape is enormous, and we look forward to collaborating with our partners in this group to implement Blockchain technology into business operations and turn Blockchain into a mainstream tool.”
Perkins Coie’s Blockchain Technology & Digital Currency industry group was publicly launched in May 2013 as the world’s first legal practice focused on decentralized cryptocurrencies and shared ledger technologies. The Blockchain Technology & Digital Currency industry group is an outgrowth of Perkins Coie’s long history representing fintech, internet, mobile and other technology companies. This multidisciplinary group is on the front lines of industry developments, helping clients address the complex legal issues faced by Blockchain and digital currency businesses. Attorneys in this practice provide product counseling, regulatory investigations and compliance counseling, litigation support, consumer protection counseling and business transaction assistance. Clients include shared ledger consortia platforms, exchanges, wallet providers, payment processors, investors and industry associations.
Perkins Coie’s Virtual Currency Report provides news and analysis on legal developments relating to Blockchains and digital currencies. Content includes insight on the complex regulatory, enforcement, investment and consumer protection issues arising in the shared ledger ecosystem. To read the Virtual Currency Report or to sign up for a customized RSS feed from the blog, please visit https://www.virtualcurrencyreport.com/.
Founded in 1912, Perkins Coie LLP has more than 1,000 lawyers in 19 offices across the United States and Asia. The firm provides a full array of corporate, commercial litigation and intellectual property legal services to a broad range of clients, from FORTUNE 50 corporations to emerging growth startups, as well as public and not-for-profit organizations.
