Judge Zive was sworn in as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Nevada in its Reno office on January 23, 1995 and was reappointed in 2009. He was the Chair of the Ninth Circuit Conference of Chief Bankruptcy Judges from October 2005 to September 2006. He retired effective December 31, 2010 and has been recalled on a full-time basis since January 1, 2011.

Judge Zive graduated from the University of Nevada in 1967 with a B.A. in journalism. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 1973 where he was a member and an editor of the law review. He was admitted to the bars of California (1973) and Nevada (1976) and to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Judge Zive is a past president of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. He is a Fellow of The American College of Bankruptcy (inducted in 2005). He has been a director of the American Bankruptcy Institute from (2008–2014). He is a member of the Washoe County Bar Association (president, 1992-1993), Nevada State-Federal Judicial Council, State Bar of Nevada Advisory Commission on Law Related Education and Master Emeritus of the Bruce R. Thompson Chapter of the American Inns of Court. He has been a member of the Ninth Circuit Public Information & Community Outreach Committee and the Ninth Circuit Standing Committee on ADR. He is an adjunct professor at Boyd Law School.

Judge Zive has served as mediator in a variety of cases over the last twelve years, including City of San Bernardino, USA Gymnastics, Archdiocese of New Orleans, Northwest Society of Jesus, and a number of Diocese including Spokane, Washington; Stockton, California; Duluth, Minnesota; New Ulm, Minnesota; Rochester, New York; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Great Falls, Montana.