Propose an edit: Burwick Law

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Title Category One sentence summary Infobox, one "key: value" per line Article body, markdown, use [[wiki links]] and end with a ## References section

Burwick Law is a New York based litigation firm founded and run by Max Burwick that has become the most prolific legal force in crypto, filing or investigating cases against [[HAWK]], [[ai16z]], [[Kelsier Ventures]], [[MOTHER]], [[pump.fun]], and more than a dozen other memecoin platforms and launches. The firm represents more than 3,500 clients with over 10 billion dollars in claims and runs more than 60 ongoing crypto investigations, a scale that has drawn both a wave of new filings and a recurring "ambulance chaser" criticism from crypto commentators.

## Max Burwick

Max Burwick is a 41 year old Navy veteran and New York based attorney. He struggled with reading until joining the US Navy at age 18, where he taught himself to read properly, then completed five years of military service as a rescue swimmer and electronics weapons specialist. He later worked as a personal trainer at a CrossFit gym in New York City before attending law school, graduating from FIU College of Law in 2014.

## Pivot into crypto litigation

His pivot into crypto litigation came in 2021 after he personally recovered "six figures" from a DeFi scam project. His own account: "Two things happened to me at that moment that were critical. One was I understood the dual nature of what people pretend to be in crypto. And I also understood the power that you could have as a lawyer." He has run his own practice for about three years as of March 2025.

## Cases and investigations

- In Re $HAWK Token Securities Litigation, Case No. 1:24 cv 08650 AMD JRC, US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Defendants per the amended complaint: Alex Larson Schultz, Solana Sweeper, Memetic Labs LLC, overHere Limited, Clinton So, Tuah The Moon Foundation, Benjamin Chow, Meteora, Dynamic Labs Limited, Johnnie Forster, 16 Minutes LLC, and [[Haliey Welch]], added as a defendant in the November 2025 amendment, plus Doe Defendants 1 through 10. Six causes of action including unregistered securities sales, fraud, false advertising, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment. The amended complaint alleges Welch was paid 325,000 dollars, 125,000 immediately and 200,000 tied to promotional milestones, under a "Meme Token Creation and Monetization Agreement" signed July 18, 2024. No settlement, dismissal, or class certification had been reported through August 19, 2026.
- Doe v. Walters, filed April 16, 2026 in the Southern District of New York, naming nine defendants including [[Shaw]] Walters, Eliza Labs, the [[ai16z]] DAO, and daos.fun, under New York consumer protection law sections 349 and 350. Commentator mdudas characterized the eventual outcome as a loss for everyone but the lawyers: the legal team took a large cut of the project's treasury in settlement, a small set of named plaintiffs got paid, the project disavowed the token entirely, and Walters kept the underlying ElizaOS IP private while continuing to build; this is an attributed characterization.
- Hurlock v. Kelsier, an active class action against Meteora, Kelsier Ventures, and Hayden Davis over the M3M3 and LIBRA launches.
- A lawsuit alleging fraud and misrepresentation connected to [[Zerebro]], reporting on which ties directly to Zerebro founder Jeffy Yu's motive for faking his own death in May 2025, an attempt reporters connected to avoiding the suit.
- A MOTHER class action filed May 5, 2026 in the Southern District of New York by Wisconsin resident Kenneth Kolbrak, represented by Burwick Law. It alleges the MOTHERLAND online casino launched in January 2025 using tether for wagering instead of MOTHER, that users could not buy phones or pay bills with MOTHER at [[Iggy Azalea]]'s Unreal Mobile telecom as promised, that a promised DreamVault marketplace never launched, and it questions undisclosed relationships with market makers Wintermute and DWF Labs. No ruling had issued as of reporting.
- pump.fun, parent company Baton Corp, filed January 2025 by Burwick Law and Wolf Popper representing plaintiff Kendall Carnahan and 500 plus investors. Alleges pump.fun's core function is co issuing unregistered securities alongside influencers, cites nearly half a billion dollars in platform fees, and alleges exposure to financing crimes. pump.fun retained Brown Rudnick, specifically Daniel L. Sachs, a former SEC counsel, Kyle P. Dorso, and Stephen D. Palley, on April 7, 2025, one day before its response deadline. As of the reporting the case remained in "early days" with a jury trial requested and no trial date set.
- STAKX, a federal lawsuit alleging an approximately 440 million dollar crypto Ponzi scheme.
- A federal class action against [[Ben Pasternak]] and B24, announced via Burwick Law's own X account.
- Additional named defendants across the firm's broader case list per Protos: Game of Silks, Meta Eagle Club, Jenner, Eden Gallery, and joint defendants Midnight Hub and Roooms.TV.
- Under investigation but not yet filed as lawsuits, per the same Protos count: [[dogwifhat]], [[Vine Coin]], and [[Chill Guy]].

## Criticism and response

Burwick is widely called an "ambulance chaser of crypto" in commentary, a term referencing lawyers who solicit accident victims for compensation claims. His response: "I'm a human being. I'm approachable. You know, this isn't some far out lawsuit with some unnamed person in some steel building somewhere. This is reality."

## Status in 2026

As of August 19, 2026, no case in the documented list above had reached a final settlement, dismissal, or trial verdict; the HAWK, Kelsier, MOTHER, and pump.fun matters were all still active litigation, while the ai16z and ElizaOS matter had reportedly resolved in a settlement per attributed commentary above.

## References

- https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/max-burwick-lawyer-sue-pump-fun-ambulance-chaser-of-crypto/
- https://law.fiu.edu/news-events/news/2025/max-burwick-14-trailblazer-in-cryptocurrency-law.html
- https://protos.com/all-of-burwick-laws-crypto-investigations-and-lawsuits/
- https://www.burwick.law/active-cases/hawk-tuah-token-lawsuit-in-re-hawk-token-securities-litigation
- https://protos.com/hawk-tuah-star-pulled-into-expanding-memecoin-lawsuit/
- https://www.burwick.law/insights/burwick-law-files-class-action-over-ai16z-and-elizaos-tokens
- https://x.com/mdudas/status/2084963198550061526
- https://www.burwick.law/active-cases
- https://protos.com/zerebro-founder-jeffy-yu-has-allegedly-killed-himself-again/
- https://decrypt.co/366832/iggy-azalea-lawsuit-solana-mother-meme-coin
- https://crypto.news/mother-memecoin-lawsuit-puts-iggy-azaleas-promises-under-fire/
- https://protos.com/pump-fun-taps-high-profile-lawyers-to-battle-burwick-lawsuit/
- https://x.com/BurwickLaw/status/2036408115088756760

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