Lisa Lombardo

Lisa has successfully litigated matters before the state and federal courts of New Jersey and New York, as well as the American Arbitration Association, with a focus on construction matters. Her experience in commercial litigation and construction litigation is unique in that she represents both plaintiffs and defendants. She was co-lead counsel in a three-year long arbitration representing a major university in a claim involving extensive and complex design and construction defects, which resulted in a multimillion-dollar award in our client’s favor and the arbitrator striking down a limitation of liability clause. Unlike most litigators in the construction arena, Lisa also has experience drafting and negotiating contracts. She has worked with owners, contractors, subcontractors, and designers on contracts for projects involving academic centers, public schools, laboratory facilities, office buildings, energy facilities, public-private projects, and building additions of varying sizes. Namely, Lisa is lead construction counsel for a prominent healthcare system in the tri-state area.

Litigation:

Lisa has been involved in several high-profile matters that have been arbitrated and litigated to judgment, including the following:

Seton Hall University Arbitration before the American Arbitration Association
Gibbons represented Seton Hall University, the claimant in an AAA arbitration involving the design and construction of the expansion and renovation of McNulty Hall, the University’s Science and Technology Building. McNulty Hall is one of the more visible buildings on campus, given the prominence of the University’s science and research programs. The McNulty Hall project was an integral part of the University’s Master Plan, which was aimed at transforming and modernizing the University campus to meet the University’s future needs and goals. The claims in the arbitration were asserted against the project architect and general contractor and involved varied and widespread errors in design and construction, ranging from the failure of the design to account for future chemical storage and usage to the building’s defective exterior limestone façade, which required complete removal and replacement. After a year-long arbitration, the arbitrator issued a multimillion-dollar judgment in Seton Hall’s favor.

Restrictive Covenant Arbitration for a Leading Manufacturer of Orthopedic Implants before the American Arbitration Association
Lisa was second chair in an arbitration brought on behalf of a leading manufacturer of orthopedic implants and instruments in a restrictive covenant litigation. Our client instituted an arbitration with the AAA against its former local distributor, based on a violation of a restrictive covenant in its contract with the manufacturer that prohibited it from selling competing products during the term of the contract and then one year after the contract’s termination. The respondents at first challenged the contention that they had violated the restrictive covenant by selling competing products in the territory during the term of the non-compete. After extensive discovery, including third party discovery, respondents admitted violating the terms of the restrictive covenant. A hearing was held before a three arbitrator panel, which awarded our client full recovery on its claims.

Independence Harbor Condominium Association v. Hartz Mountain Industries, et al. Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Bergen County
The firm represented Independence Harbor Condominium Association in a construction defects lawsuit against the condominium’s developer, the contractors responsible for its construction, and the designers. The claims included breach of warranty, violations of New Jersey’s Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act, violations of New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, and design error and omission claims. Ms. Lombardo was an integral member of the litigation team, having been part of the case since the inception of the firm’s involvement and responsible for overseeing and conducting key fact and expert discovery. This matter was successfully tried before a jury, resulting in a multimillion-dollar verdict. Thereafter, the firm negotiated and documented a series of settlements between the various parties.

In addition to the above matters, Lisa has worked on several matters that have resulted in opinions, including the following:

Fabcon East, L.L.C. vs. The Stegla Group, Inc., 2:2010cv04601 (D.N.J. June 8, 2011)

All Metro Health Care Servs. v. Edwards, 2010 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1821 (App.Div. July 30, 2010)

Lane v. Schmied, 2008 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1014 (App.Div. Feb. 11, 2008)

21st Capital Corp. v. Tiffany & Co., 2008 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 2281 (App.Div. Feb. 6, 2008)

Thermal Design Inc. v. U.S. Home Corporation, 2006 WL 3228596 (N.J. App. Div. Nov. 9, 2006)

Construction Drafting and Counseling:

Notable contracts Lisa has drafted, and negotiated, and contract issues she has advised on include the following:

A construction manager agreement for a major addition to a healthcare facility involving a multi-phase expansion estimated at $715 million.

Design, construction and project manager agreements for a ground up cancer facility.

The design and construction agreements for a $225 million addition to a major tri-state area medical center.

The architect and engineer agreements for a new medical school.

Numerous engineering, procurement and construction agreements for central utility plants and combined heat and power plants.

Design build contracts for new state-of-the-art medical facilities.

The construction manager agreement for the construction of LG’s new North American headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Template AIA architect and construction contracts under various contract procurement methods for a leading American multinational conglomerate that produces a variety of commercial and consumer products. The templates were put out to bid across the United States.

Design and construction agreements for a leading real estate investment and management firm of upwards of $20 million on high-profile projects in New Jersey and New York.

Resolving change order claims.

Assisting clients in terminating agreements—whether for convenience or for cause—and in navigating the resulting issues, including payment claims and the assignment of contracts and design deliverables.