

Valeri Pappas was born in Syracuse, New York and has lived in Colorado since 1995. As an undergraduate, she attended the University of Michigan for two years in the Honors Program before receiving her B.A. from the University of Vermont, graduating magna cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She attended the University of Colorado School of Law where she served as an associate editor of the law review and received her J.D. in 1998. Ms. Pappas joined Davis & Ceriani as a litigation associate in 1999, became a partner in 2005 and managing partner in January 2015.
Part of Davis & Ceriani’s trial team, Ms. Pappas’s experience as a litigator includes participating in all phases of multi-million dollar litigation, in jury trials as well as FINRA arbitrations. Her practice areas include securities litigation, employment law, complex commercial litigation, personal injury and general civil litigation. Her securities experience over the past twenty years includes cases across the country representing institutional investors bringing securities fraud claims resulting from municipal bond purchases.
Ms. Pappas also advises employers on a variety of matters such as drafting and revising employee handbooks, conducting workplace investigations as well as company-wide and individual sensitivity, discrimination and harassment training. Ms. Pappas assists both employers and employees on matters such as dispute resolution, drafting and negotiating severance agreements, non-compete agreements and other workplace and employment issues. In her employment practice, Ms. Pappas co-authored “Workplace Bullying Legislation – A Primer for Colorado Employers and Employees” published in Trial Talk June/July 2008.
Ms. Pappas has been selected for many years as Colorado Super Lawyer for securities litigation and has also been recognized in the Top 100 Lawyer and Top 50 Women Lawyer categories several times. Ms. Pappas has also been recognized by 5280 Magazine as a Top Lawyer, as well as by Best Lawyers in America for 2020-2023, and was awarded the honor of 2022 Lawyer of the Year for Securities Litigation by Best Lawyers in America. Ms. Pappas can also be found on the Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers. Ms. Pappas’s involvement in the community is extensive:
Examining the Title VII Ellerth/Faragher Affirmative Defense in the “Me Too” Era
Ms. Pappas is featured in the University of Vermont’s Catamount Today: Denver Edition.