Douglas J. Pepe

Partner

Douglas J. Pepe brings more than 25 years of high-stakes litigation and strategic counsel expertise to Zaiger Linden Roberti & Pepe LLC. With extensive experience in large-scale litigation, Doug is known for navigating complexity with precision and pragmatism. The Legal 500 guide praises him as “one of the best, smartest, and most strategic lawyers,” with testimonials noting: “I have seen him take the most complicated and sensitive matters and finesse them to very good resolutions for his clients. I’ve also seen him turn from great negotiator to incredible litigator to expert trial lawyer – very versatile. Highly recommend.”

Lawdragon lists Doug among the 500 Leading Litigators in America for commercial litigation, law firm malpractice, and blockchain, while Benchmark Litigation names him a “Litigation Star” for his commercial and securities litigation work.

Doug’s practice focuses on representing corporate and institutional clients in complex commercial disputes, defending prominent law firms in malpractice and professional liability cases, advising companies and their directors and officers in insurance disputes, serving as settlement counsel in challenging resolutions, and providing advice and expertise in blockchain law. 

He has led teams of lawyers in some of the most notable and complex cases of his generation, including:

• Class and Mass Actions — litigating complex class and mass actions on both the plaintiff and defense side, including playing a leading role on the executive committee for all property damage and business loss claims from the 9/11 terrorist attacks, securing a $1.2 billion settlement approved by the Second Circuit after over a decade of litigation and extensive document discovery and 180 depositions;

• Legal Malpractice Defense — lead defense counsel in significant legal malpractice cases, including defending a pioneering class action law firm and its founder in a landmark legal malpractice case brought as a “class within a class,” resolved successfully after a decade of litigation and a U.S. Supreme Court victory;

• Complex Professional Liability Defense — defending prominent law firms in significant professional liability cases tied to the Stanford Ponzi scheme, Adelphia securities litigation, Enron, a $219 million U.S. Virgin Islands bond counsel dispute, a dispute over majority ownership of Facebook, and the September 11 Litigation, among other matters;

• Insurance Disputes — serving as lead insurance counsel for lawyers, directors and officers, and companies in significant disputes, including successfully representing the former founder of FTX in multiparty directors and officers insurance disputes following the company’s 2022 collapse;

• Complex Commercial Litigation — representing financial institutions, global asset managers, and corporations in securities, RICO, class action, derivative, financial crisis, and multibillion-dollar contractual disputes, including winning dismissal of a $1.25 billion RICO action against the controlling shareholder of the Chicago Sun-Times, Jerusalem Post, and Daily Telegraph, litigating the high-profile dispute between Citibank and Wachovia arising from the first FDIC systemic risk determination in history, securing defense wins in billions of dollars in complex securities and contractual disputes, and obtaining a $132 million judgment in Delaware Bankruptcy Court for a Litigation Trustee and lenders against funds managed by a major private equity firm; and

• Representation of High-Profile Individuals — prosecuting and defending claims involving founders, principals, and prominent individual clients in matters ranging from significant contractual disputes and corporate control contests to defending defamation and malicious prosecution claims arising from the “Page Six” gossip scandal brought against a private equity founder client and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Beyond his active practice, Doug is a professor at The George Washington University School of Law, where he teaches blockchain law, technology, and cybersecurity. He is passionate about blockchain, frequently speaks on blockchain-related legal issues, serves on the non-profit foundation of an open-source blockchain project, co-founded a blockchain startup, and invented a patented cryptographic cold storage system for blockchain assets.

Doug is also a member of the American Law Institute and has authored influential articles and book chapters on commercial litigation that are cited in treatises, law reviews, journals, and the official commentary to the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules. Super Lawyers has included him on its New York Metro list for business litigation since 2010, and he has held an AV Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell since 2010.

Prior to joining his former partners and co-counsel to form Zaiger Linden Roberti & Pepe LLC, Doug practiced at a large New York firm and as a partner at two premier litigation boutiques. He clerked for U.S. District Judge Faith S. Hochberg in New Jersey and is a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he graduated with the highest honors as a James Kent Scholar.

Education:
• Columbia Law School (J.D., James Kent Scholar, 1999)   
• The State University of New York at Buffalo (B.A., summa cum laude, 1996)

Activities and Affiliations:
• Senior Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
• Member, American Law Institute

Bar Admissions

• New York 

• New Jersey 

• U.S. Supreme Court 

• U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Ninth, and Federal Circuits 

• U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and District of New Jersey