Tom Umberg

Thomas J. Umberg’s practice focuses on litigation matters and federal and state policy and regulatory matters, as well as domestic and international project development. Mr. Umberg has extensive trial experience and has been chosen as a “Super Lawyer” for Southern California – a recognition limited to only 5% of the lawyers in Southern California. He was also selected as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” in the field of commercial litigation. In addition, Mr. Umberg provides counsel in infrastructure project development and in crisis management.

In 1995 Mr. Umberg was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles and Orange County. As a federal criminal prosecutor he tried numerous white-collar and civil rights cases. In 1997 Mr. Umberg was nominated by the President and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate as Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). As Deputy Director he was responsible for the development and coordination of United States policy to reduce the flow of illegal drugs into the United States, as well as counter-drug intelligence and interdiction. Mr. Umberg was the United States signatory to the historic hemispheric Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism signed in Montevideo, Uruguay. He served as a senior member to the U.S./Mexico High Level Contact Group and as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Summit of the Americas in Santiago, Chile. He led U.S. delegations to Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, and several other Latin-American countries.

Mr. Umberg served three terms in the California Legislature, most recently between 2004 and 2006. While in the California Assembly, he chaired the Committee on Environmental Safety and the Committee on Elections and Redistricting. Mr. Umberg authored 58 measures that were signed into law, including statutes involving white-collar crime, toll way authorization, mortgage fraud, telemarketing fraud, hate crimes, toxic waste cleanup, housing loans, election reform, campaign finance reform, Super Speed Rail Transport, and other transportation issues.

From 1981-1985 Mr. Umberg served as a military prosecutor in Korea and Italy, where he tried over 50 felony cases. He served as a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. In 2004 he was called to active duty to prosecute war crimes violations by detainees housed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Prior to joining Manatt, Mr. Umberg was a partner in the Litigation Department at Morrison & Foerster.