Ugo Colella represents companies in civil litigation with a focus on business-related disputes and mass torts. A seasoned litigator, Mr. Colella has significant experience before state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country and possesses extensive knowledge of the complexities involved with all types of commercial disputes, particularly class actions and multidistrict litigation. He also counsels businesses on issues involving contracts and other commercial instruments, with a concentration on partnerships, limited partnerships and limited liability companies.

Mr. Colella has litigated cases under many important federal statutes, including the Interstate Land Sales Disclosure Act, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Anti-Terrorism Act, Bankruptcy Code, Full Faith and Credit Act, Federal Tort Claims Act, False Claims Act, civil RICO, Lanham Act and the Alien Tort Claims Act. He also has represented clients in several state law-based claims involving breach of contract, unjust enrichment, premises liability, products liability, ordinary negligence, professional negligence, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, misappropriate of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, violations of consumer protection statutes, and tortuous interference with contract or prospective business relationships.

Mr. Colella’s litigation experience includes multiple actions and class actions consolidated before a single federal district judge, including In re InPhonic, Inc. Wireless Phone Rebate Litigation (District of Columba federal court), In re Commercial Money Center Litigation (Northern District of Ohio) and In re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001 (Southern District of New York). As co-counsel, he helped a client, after several appeals, obtain a $97 million judgment against the federal government for breach of contract (Bluebonnet Savings Bank, FSB v. United States, Federal Circuit). Mr. Colella also won an appeal from a bankruptcy court decision by arguing that a debt owed to his client was not dischargeable (Colorado West Transportation v. McMahon, N.D. Georgia).

Before entering private practice, Mr. Colella entered the U.S. Department of Justice’s Honors Program and served as a trial attorney for the Civil Division of the Justice Department where he handled toxic-tort claims and a variety of other civil litigation issues at the federal trial and appellate levels for agencies including the Department of the Army, the Small Business Administration and the Department of Energy.

A widely-published author, Mr. Colella’s writings have been relied upon by state and federal courts.