Photograph of Mana Elihu Lombardo
Recognized as a 2015 and
2016 "Southern California
Super Lawyer - Rising Star"
in Government Contracts

Education

  • University of California, Berkeley, B.A. (2000) with honors
  • University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, J.D. (2003)

Admissions

  • California

Languages

  • Farsi (Proficient)
  • Spanish (Conversational)
Mana Elihu Lombardo, Counsel Los Angeles
melombardo@crowell.com
Phone: +1 213.443.5563
515 South Flower St., 40th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071-2201

Mana Elihu Lombardo is a counsel in Crowell & Moring's Government Contracts Group in Los Angeles. She concentrates her practice on government contracts litigation and counseling. Mana has extensive experience defending companies in fraud matters under the False Claims Act (FCA). She also conducts internal investigations and training programs on ethics and public sector contract compliance as well as procurement fraud. 

In addition, Mana handles a wide range of civil and commercial litigation matters, including contract disputes, business torts, and labor and employment issues. Mana has appeared and argued before federal and state trial and appellate courts and has extensive experience developing and implementing litigation strategy as well as managing the process of large litigation matters. She works closely with clients to guide them through mediation and settlement proceedings.

Mana litigates a variety of procurement fraud matters against the Department of Justice, local public entities, and "qui tam" whistleblowers under the Federal and California State False Claims Acts. She represents a range of industries, including defense, aerospace, construction, environmental consulting, educational development services, security services, energy, and data reporting and analytics. Her recent matters include defending contractors against employment retaliation claims brought by relators under the False Claims Act.

Mana's government contracts counseling and litigation practice also includes other issues relating to fraud, procurement integrity, the mandatory disclosure rule, government audits and investigations, disputes between prime and subcontractors, organizational conflicts of interest, gifts and gratuities, data rights issues, contractor labor law, quality assurance standards, and other ethics and compliance issues under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). 

Representative Matters:

  • Represented a local contractor that faced over $2.5 million in fraudulent billing allegations based on an expansive government audit alleging, among other things, labor mischarging and illegal kickbacks. Obtained a favorable settlement which dismissed all claims against the contractor, converted the government's termination for default into a termination for convenience, and compensated the contractor for monies owed by the government at the time of termination.
  • Defending a federal contractor in the aerospace industry against a whistleblower complaint alleging false testing, fraudulent underbidding, and employment retaliation under the False Claims Act.
  • Successfully obtained a summary judgment verdict for a defense industry client in a multi-million dollar interference with contract action involving procurement of military vehicle components for a foreign government.

As part of the firm's pro bono work, Mana participates at a Legal Aid clinic where she counsels low-income families on various landlord/tenant issues. Through this work, Mana has obtained numerous dismissals of unlawful detainer actions brought to evict tenants, including a successful trial verdict. 

Mana graduated from the UCLA School of Law, where she was an editor of the UCLA Law Review. Mana earned her undergraduate degree, with honors, in political economy from the University of California at Berkeley. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and received both the Alumni Leadership Scholarship and the Robert Byrd Scholarship for four consecutive years.

In 2015 and 2016, Mana was recognized as a "Southern California Super Lawyer - Rising Star" in Government Contracts.


Affiliations

Admitted to practice: California, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Professional Activities
State Bar of California
Los Angeles County Bar Association
Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles

Highlights, News & Knowledge

Speeches & Presentations


Publications


Client Alerts & Newsletters


In the News


Firm News & Announcements

Nov.30.2016 Super Lawyers Recognizes 71 Crowell & Moring Lawyers Across United States
Oct.27.2015 Super Lawyers Recognizes 90 Crowell & Moring Attorneys
Jan.09.2015 Crowell & Moring's Government Contracts Group Named to Law360's "Practice Groups of the Year" for Fifth Consecutive Year
Jan.11.2011 Crowell & Moring Elects Three New Partners and Promotes 18 Attorneys to Counsel Positions