Ugo Colella represents clients in civil litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. Although Mr. Colella has focused on business-related disputes and product liability and complex tort litigation, he brings fresh perspectives and new ideas to all areas of litigation and pre-litigation planning and avoidance. Known for his aggressive litigation strategies and tactics, Mr. Colella seeks to achieve the best results for his clients, whether that be through an early settlement or through full-fledged litigation, including trial (bench or jury) and appeal.
Mr. Colella has litigated cases involving a broad range of 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 Alien Tort Claims Act. Mr. Colella has been involved in several cases that test the limits of federal power, including challenges to federal courts' exercise of subject matter jurisdiction and those courts' attempts to assert personal jurisdiction over foreign entities and persons.
Mr. Colella also represents clients in claims brought under state law, including breach of contract, bad faith, unjust enrichment, premises liability, products liability, ordinary negligence, professional negligence, fraud, fraudulent conveyance/transfer, negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, veil-piercing, violation of consumer protection statutes, and tortious interference with contract or prospective business relationships.
Mr. Colella has defended wrongful death and survival cases in state and federal courts across the country as well as cases involving alleged traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, physical and mental disability, lost past and future earnings, and other economic and non-economic damages.
Mr. Colella is widely published. In addition to being relied upon by numerous scholars and cited in several authoritative text books, Mr. Colella’s publications have been cited and relied upon by members of the United States Supreme Court as well as federal and state courts across the country, including: the federal District of Columbia, First, and Ninth Circuits; federal district courts in Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Utah, and West Virginia; and the supreme courts of Alabama, Delaware, Indiana, and Tennessee.
Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Colella was a member of the U.S. Department of Justice's Honors Program, serving as a trial attorney for the Civil Division of the Justice Department. In this role, 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, Small Business Administration and Department of Energy.
Mr. Colella is a 1996 cum laude graduate of Tulane Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Tulane Law Review. He is a 1989 graduate, with honors and distinction, of Stanford University, where he also pitched for the Stanford baseball team.
