A former law clerk on the Supreme Court of the United States, Zach Savage is a trial and appellate lawyer who represents clients around the world in complex business disputes. Zach is experienced in a broad array of litigation areas including breach of contract, oil and gas disputes, intellectual property, and insurance litigation. His clients range from industry leaders such as General Electric and Walmart to smaller businesses and individuals in the financial, technology, and media sectors.
Zach joined Susman Godfrey in 2015 and, after clerking for Justice Elena Kagan on the United States Supreme Court in 2018, returned to the firm in 2019. He formerly served as Managing Editor of the NYU Law Review.
Several of his matters have attracted substantial media attention, including his current representation of Dominion Voting Systems in its defamation suits against Fox News and others, as well as his current representation of the former shareholders of Yukos Oil against the Russian Federation seeking to confirm $50 billion in arbitral awards. Zach was named to Benchmark Litigation’s 40 and Under Hot List in 2022.
Some of Zach’s notable results and representations are:
- Dominion Voting Systems Defamation Suits: Zach is representing Dominion Voting Systems in its ongoing suits against Fox News (Del. Super.) and Mike Lindell (D.D.C.). In the Lindell suit, Zach secured complete dismissal of Lindell’s counterclaims against Dominion; you can read Zach’s winning briefs here and here.
- PHT Holding I LLC v. Security Life of Denver Insurance Company (D. Colo.): Zach represents a class of life insurance policyholders in breach-of-contract suit against Security Life of Denver challenging increases to cost-of-insurance charges. Zach secured class certification of a 31-state class on a state law breach-of-contract claim.
- GE v. Nebraska Investment Finance Authority (S.D.N.Y.) Won breach-of-contract jury verdict for General Electric, obtaining relief valued at over $100 million. The suit, against the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, concerned above-market interest payments under the parties’ investment contracts. The verdict was affirmed on appeal by the Second Circuit. See GE Funding Capital Markets Services, Inc. v. Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, 767 Fed. App’x 110 (2d Cir. 2019).
- Leonard v. John Hancock (S.D.N.Y) Secured preliminary approval of a $123 million settlement on behalf of a class of life insurance policyholders in breach-of-contract suit against John Hancock who challenged its increases to cost-of-insurance charges. Zach spoke to Law360 about the win in its coverage of the case (subscription required).
- Avi Dorfman v. Compass (New York Supreme Court, New York County) Represented Avi Dorfman in a co-founder dispute against real estate brokerage Compass. After seven years of litigation, the parties settled on confidential terms, with Compass acknowledging Dorfman’s role as a founding team member.
- Innovius v. Sharp Corporation (Texas State Court, Dallas County)Represented patent licensing business, Innovius, in a lawsuit against Sharp Corporation concerning the breach of a multi-million dollar patent licensing agreement. The parties settled on confidential terms.
Updated Aug 2023
