Doug DePeppe is a Special Counsel in the Firm’s Denver office with a national practice in data rights, data protection, sports data and licensing, and cybersecurity law. He is a member of the Firm’s Privacy & Data Security, Sports Industry, and Artificial Intelligence Practice Groups.

A retired Army Judge Advocate and national security attorney, Mr. DePeppe’s military cyberlaw career began with his Army-funded Master of Laws (LLM) degree from The George Washington University Law School with a cyberlaw focus, followed by his leading the Army JAG Corps’ development of a cybersecurity law practice. He next helped develop cybersecurity law capabilities in the cybersecurity divisions at Homeland Security, including serving as the legal advisor to US-CERT. Mr. DePeppe’s cybersecurity awards and accomplishments include:

  • White House 60-Day Cyberspace Policy Review, Lawyers Working Group (2009)
  • Inducted into the Information Sharing Hall of Fame, ISAO Standards Organization (2018)
  • Adjunct Professor and curriculum development, University of Maryland Global Campus Masters Program in Cybersecurity (2010-2020)
  • Chair, Cybersecurity Working Group, Regional Consortium Coordinating Council (RC3), DHS-affiliated Coordinating Council (2013-2020)
  • Working Group Chair, Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (ISAO) Standards Organization (2015-2018)
  • Co-Inventor, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REGISTERING CLAIMS OF OWNERSHIP RIGHTS, US 20240152645 (patent-pending, published 2024)

In his cybersecurity law practice, Mr. DePeppe assists clients in data breach investigations, orchestrating the incident response and crisis management as a Breach Coach. Mr. DePeppe has assisted clients with cyberattack response services for twenty years. He is well known and respected in the field, has presented at major conferences on nearly every continent across the globe, and has published in Forbes, trade journals, and other online magazines.

Mr. DePeppe also assists clients with data privacy prevention and compliance. Leveraging his interdisciplinary knowledge and cybersecurity resource network, he helps clients with risk assessments, leadership and boardroom training and mentoring, third-party contract and supply-chain risk review, cyber due diligence for mergers and acquisitions, and other cyber risk advisory and services.

With his background in data rights, Mr. DePeppe also advises clients concerning name-image-likeness (NIL) protection and licensing. Universities, collectives, athletes, sports entities and associations, and sports agents have growing needs to protect NIL monetization efforts from infringing misappropriations.

While a Judge Advocate, Mr. DePeppe was a trial attorney in courts-martial for five years and became a certified capital case defense counsel. This criminal law experience aids his client advice concerning cybercrime. Additionally, Mr. DePeppe has used his litigation experience in the representation of sport sector mediations and arbitrations. In particular, he has successfully represented several soccer clubs and athletes in administrative disputes arising from the Ted Stephens Amateur Sports Act and SafeSport.

A life-long soccer player and enthusiast, Coach DePeppe also enjoys helping youth players pursue their dreams as a youth soccer coach.

Mr. DePeppe earned his J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law. He also earned two LL.M. degrees—one in Cyberlaw, Telecommunications, and National Security Law, and the other in National Security and General Law.  He earned his B.A. in Political Science from University of Rhode Island.