Vincent J. Colatriano

Vincent J. Colatriano has extensive civil litigation experience representing a wide range of clients before a number of administrative agencies and federal and state trial and appellate courts on a variety of constitutional, statutory, administrative, contractual, tort, intellectual property, and commercial matters.

Mr. Colatriano has appeared regularly in cases brought against the federal government and federal agencies in both federal district court and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. For example, he has represented numerous financial institutions and other companies in so-called “Winstar” cases against the United States. See United States v. Winstar Corp., 518 U.S. 839 (1996). Mr. Colatriano has helped the plaintiffs in those cases recover hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for breach of contract.  For example, Mr. Colatriano served as one of the trial counsel in a Winstar case brought by AmBase Corporation that resulted in a judgment against the United States for more than $200 million. Mr. Colatriano has also successfully represented other companies in government contract cases against the United States.  Mr. Colatriano has also helped represent shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in litigation against the United States and federal agencies challenging, on contractual, statutory, and constitutional grounds, actions taken during the conservatorship of those companies.  And Mr. Colatriano has helped represent several companies in litigation against the federal government seeking to recover environmental clean-up expenses arising from World War II contracts to provide aviation fuel to the government as part of the war effort.

Mr. Colatriano has regularly represented property owners in litigation brought against the United States under the Fifth Amendment’s “takings” clause, which prohibits the taking by the government of property for a public use without the payment of just compensation.   Mr. Colatriano’s work in connection with such takings matters has involved the litigation of complex claims alleging both “physical” takings of property by the federal government and “regulatory” takings of real and personal property.  Mr. Colatriano has also advised clients on whether statutes, regulations, and other government actions may amount to unconstitutional takings.

Mr. Colatriano has also represented plaintiffs in litigation, before both the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, seeking compensation from the federal government as a result of the Government’s unauthorized use of inventions covered by valid patents.  He has also helped to analyze whether provisions of federal patent reform legislation run afoul of various provisions of the United States Constitution.

Mr. Colatriano also has significant experience litigating other types of complex, high-stakes matters.  For example, Mr. Colatriano has experience litigating matters brought under the False Claims Act, the statute authorizing suits against companies and individuals who submit false or fraudulent claims to the federal government.  Mr. Colatriano has also represented plaintiffs in complex class action litigation, including significant class actions brought under federal antitrust laws.

Mr. Colatriano has also represented state governments in numerous constitutional, statutory, administrative law, and commercial matters involving such complex issues as the disposal of nuclear waste, compliance with oil and gas leases, health care reform, and the meaning and application of the “commerce” clause of the U.S. Constitution. For example, Mr. Colatriano was part of the team representing the State of Alabama in proceedings before the Supreme Court of Alabama in a matter involving fraud and breach of contract claims arising out of oil and gas leases entered by the State.  And Mr. Colatriano helped represent the State of Nevada in complex litigation concerning the federal government’s proposal to dispose of nuclear waste at a facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada; that matter involved numerous complex questions concerning constitutional, statutory, and administrative law issues.

Mr. Colatriano also has extensive experience representing clients in proceedings before administrative agencies, and has worked on cases before such agencies as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (in matters involving the Atomic Energy Act and the Nuclear Waste Policy Act) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (in matters involving the Animal Welfare Act).

Mr. Colatriano was awarded his B.A. degree in Political Science, summa cum laude, from George Washington University in 1987, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1990, he received his J.D. degree from the National Law Center, George Washington University, with highest honors. He was a member of the George Washington Law Review, the Phi Delta Phi International Legal Fraternity, and the Order of the Coif.

Publications

The Legal Authority of the Department of the Treasury to Promulgate a Regulation Providing for Indexation of Capital Gains, 12 VIRGINIA TAX REVIEW 631 (1993) (co-authored with Charles J. Cooper and Michael A. Carvin)

The Regulatory Authority of the Treasury Department to Index Capital Gains for Inflation:  A Sequel, 35 HARVARD JOURNAL OF LAW & PUBLIC POLICY 487 (2012) (co-authored with Charles J. Cooper)

An Attack on Separation of Powers and Federal Judicial Power? An Analysis of the Constitutionality of Section 18 of the America Invents Act, ENGAGE (Volume 13, Issue 2 (2012)) (co-authored with Charles J. Cooper)

Determining Climate Responsibility: Government Liability for Hurricane Katrina?, 49 ELR NEWS & ANALYSIS 10005 (2019) (dialogue with Teresa Chan, Michael Burger, and John Echeverria)