Overview
Douglas (Doug) I. Koff focuses his practice on high-profile and high stakes civil, enforcement, and criminal matters, including investigations.
Doug is a nationally recognized litigator who represents corporations, a variety of financial institutions (i.e., banks, broker-dealers, hedge funds, private equity funds), boards of directors, special committees, and corporate executives. In this regard, he has advised and defended entities and corporate executives in inquiries by civil and criminal authorities (as well as self-regulatory organizations) into business practices that have been questioned by regulators as well as insider trading matters.
He has also handled major civil litigations and arbitrations involving a broad spectrum of substantive legal issues. Doug is also involved in bankruptcy matters where he leads and supervises the litigation aspects of the matters. Additionally, he has handled civil and criminal matters involving allegations of antitrust violations.
Doug has been recognized as a leading lawyer by multiple directories and publications, including Chambers USA and Legal 500 US, the latter of which referred to him as offering “remarkable insight, work ethic and tenacity.” He is also recognized as one of the top-rated White Collar Crimes lawyers in New York City by Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers.
Chambers noted that Doug is “hard-working, attentive and client-focused,” “extraordinarily focused and tenacious,” and “a smart, thorough litigator who is always on top of things.” Chambers also noted that he “has everything on his radar screen” and has a “remarkable ability to get along with anyone, making it his business to develop a rapport with other attorneys involved in his cases.”
He has also received the Burton Award for Distinguished Legal Writing.
Doug is very active in impact pro bono matters, where he spends a significant amount of time.
Results
- Successfully represented a group of investment funds in a civil litigation with respect to the investment funds’ acquisition of shares in a more than $15 billion-dollar regional bank
- Represented a specialty finance company in connection with a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into its core business where the SEC staff issued a closing letter without any charges
- Represented two high-level corporate executives in an SEC investigation, as well as related bankruptcy and civil litigation, which were all resolved in settlements
- Represented corporate executives in the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) investigation; no charges were brought against them
- Represented a television personality in an SEC investigation where no charges were brought against the client
- Represented the head of a private fund in a wide-ranging insider trading investigation by the Department of Justice and the SEC; no charges were brought against the client
- Led the litigation effort for the DRA Parties in Puerto Rico’s Title III and related bankruptcy cases with respect to more than $20 billion in claims against multiple Puerto Rico entities
- Represented a broker-dealer in a FINRA investigation into a number of issues, including best execution, which ended in a settlement
- Represented a former Equifax executive in a widely publicized insider trading case brought by the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia and the Atlanta Regional Office of the SEC. The executive was alleged to have traded on material non-public information before the company’s announcement that it had suffered a data breach
- Represented a leading global clinical research organization (CRO), as respondent, in a four-and-a-half year-long arbitration proceeding brought by a biopharmaceutical company. The claimant sought over $1 billion in damages based on fraud and contract claims concerning the hiring of the CRO and its management of a global clinical oncology study. After a more than 50-day arbitration trial, the arbitrator issued a final award denying virtually all of the claimant’s allegations, including denying all of its fraud claims. After making certain deductions based on a counterclaim on which Doug’s client prevailed, the arbitrator issued a net award to the claimant of approximately only 0.2 percent of the amount it sought
- Represented a commercial bank in an SEC investigation into the bank’s public filings in relation to its accounting of its allowance for loan and lease losses and deferred tax assets. No charges were brought against the bank
- Represented a prominent collateral manager regarding the structuring, sale and marketing of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) in an SEC investigation, which ended in a settlement with the SEC
- Represented numerous executives at a number of different financial institutions and broker-dealers regarding investigations of trading and sales practices into foreign exchange, CDOs, residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBSs), securitizations, and a host of fixed income instruments as well as equities. None of these individuals were charged by any law enforcement agency or regulator
- In one of the largest criminal investigations of the reinsurance industry, represented a former CEO in connection with all of the civil and criminal matters involving certain finite transactions with AIG. Obtained a deferred prosecution in the criminal proceeding, settled the matter with the SEC with no financial liability, and obtained dismissal of all civil matters with no civil liability to the client
- Represented a founding partner and head of trading of a major hedge fund in one of the, if not the, most prominent insider-trading investigations ever; no charges were brought against the client
- Represented a chief compliance officer of a registered broker-dealer in connection with an SEC investigation regarding compliance issues around dark pools. The SEC was convinced not to file charges through the Wells process
- Represented Lehman Brothers in a series of investigations into the underwriting, marketing, and sale of auction rate securities
- Represented numerous corporate executives in an investigation by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and SEC into sales practices, insider-trading, and underwriting issues; no charges were brought against any of these clients
- Represented four former outside directors in the Tyco litigation in numerous securities class actions and the related shareholder derivative litigation, also represented some of the former outside directors in various regulatory and criminal matters
- Represented a major financial institution with respect to allegations concerning stock loan finders; no charges were filed against the institution
- Represented the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in connection with investigations involving mutual fund trading practices
- Represented Bear Stearns in connection with regulatory investigations stemming from allegations of improper initial public offering practices
- Represented Bear Stearns in connection with regulatory investigations arising out of allegations of alleged conflicts of interest between the investment banking and research departments
- Represented Lehman Brothers in multimillion-dollar disputes with various Chinese trading counterparties involving foreign exchange and derivatives trading. One of the matters involved international discovery pursuant to the Hague Convention and complex issues of Chinese law and resulted in a 37-day trial in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York
- Represented Bear Stearns in a complex securities arbitration
- Represented Timber Hill LLC in In re Stock Exchange Trading Antitrust Litigation, in which the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the trial court’s decision dismissing the action pursuant to the implied repeal doctrine, a key case addressing the doctrine
Recognitions
Community
- UJA White Collar and Securities Enforcement Group, chair emeriti
- New York Junior Tennis & Learning, board member
- Barbara McDowell Social Justice Center, board member
- Federal Bar Council, member
Credentials
Education
Columbia Law School, JD, 1994
Earlham College, BA, 1986
Admissions
New York
Courts/Agencies
Supreme Court of the United States
US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
US District Court for the Eastern District of New York
US District Court for the Southern District of New York
US District Court for the Western District of New York