Dhananjay S. Manthripragada

Dhananjay (DJ) Manthripragada is a partner in the Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He is Chair of the firm’s Government Contracts practice group, and also a member of the Litigation, Class Actions, Labor & Employment, and Aerospace and Related Technologies practice groups. Mr. Manthripragada has a broad complex litigation practice, and has served as lead counsel in precedent setting litigation before several United States Courts of Appeals, District Courts and state courts in jurisdictions across the country, the Court of Federal Claims, and the Federal Government Boards of Contract Appeals. He has first-chair trial experience and has successfully tried to verdict both jury and bench trials, and has served as lead counsel in arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution forums. His practice spans a wide range of industries, and he has represented some of the world’s leading aerospace and defense, finance, logistics/transportation, high-technology, and pharmaceutical companies in their most significant matters. Mr. Manthripragada is also highly regarded as a trusted advisor to clients regarding significant compliance/enforcement, contract, dispute resolution, and employment issues. He was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® Ones to Watch in Commercial Litigation in 2021 and 2022.

Complex Trial and Appellate Litigation: Mr. Manthripragada has extensive experience in a broad range of business litigation, including class and mass action litigation. He has served as lead counsel in employment, consumer, wage-and-hour, and unfair competition class actions and other complex litigation matters. In addition to litigating, Mr. Manthripragada counsels clients on compliance with rapidly evolving state and federal law, as well as the development and implementation of business model changes and best practices to minimize the risk of litigation or government enforcement actions. He has counseled clients across a range of industries on recent trends in worker classification, and successful strategies by companies and employers to manage potential liability. He has also conducted numerous internal investigations regarding sensitive matters. Clients have praised Mr. Manthripragada’s ability to craft practical legal solutions to complex problems. Recognized as a thought leader in the industry, Mr. Manthripragada has delivered numerous seminars on key developments in worker classification and arbitration laws. Some of Mr. Manthripragada’s most recent non-confidential matters include:

 

• Represent logistics companies defending multiple enforcement actions alleging misclassification of truck drivers as independent contractors and involving complex issues regarding the preemption of worker classification law AB5.
• Represent Grubhub in landmark trial victory in a federal case ruling that a driver who used Grubhub’s app was an independent contractor, after preemptively defeating class certification.
• Represented Uber in a series of putative class actions asserting that Uber has misclassified drivers as independent contractors, including persuading the Ninth Circuit to grant interlocutory review of a class certification order, and obtaining decisions by the Ninth Circuit enforcing Uber’s arbitration agreements and decertifying a class of hundreds of thousands of drivers.
• Obtained rulings from federal and state courts across the country compelling individual arbitration and dismissing and/or staying class and collective actions.
• Lead counsel for logistics and network companies in a series of putative class actions, PAGA actions, and FLSA actions pending in California state and federal courts, asserting misclassification of drivers as independent contractors.
• Lead trial counsel for multiple platform companies in arbitrations and administrative trials regarding independent contractor classification.
• Represented Hewlett-Packard Company in a two-part, multi-week trial involving breach of contract and unfair competition claims that resulted in a unanimous jury verdict in favor of HP, with the jury awarding HP over $3 billion in damages.
• Counsel for Co-CEOs of algorithmic trading company in five-day arbitration of claims alleging breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty, which resulted in a complete victory on all claims and the award of $3 million in attorneys’ fees and costs in favor of Gibson Dunn’s clients.
• Presented CLE class titled “Recent Trends in Arbitration and Worker Classification: What Companies Need to Know Going into 2020.”

Government Contracts Practice: As Chair of the firm’s Government Contracts practice, Mr. Manthripragada has a breadth of experience in the field of government contracts. His government contracts practice focuses on civil and criminal fraud investigations and litigation, complex claims preparation and litigation, qui tam suits under the False Claims Act, defective pricing, cost allowability, the Cost Accounting Standards, and compliance counseling. He has represented government contractors and their subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and federal appellate and trial courts across the country, and has provided advice to clients on issues involving contract negotiations, claims analysis, and contract performance. Mr. Manthripragada also maintains a robust compliance counseling practice, aimed at offering practical guidance on complex regulatory issues while remaining mindful of clients’ business goals.

He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Government Contract Costs, Pricing and Accounting Report. He also serves on The Government Contractor Advisory Board. Some of Mr. Manthripragada’s most recent non-confidential matters include:

• Ongoing representation of multiple major defense contractors before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals in disputes regarding compliance with the Cost Accounting Standards.
• Successful bid protest before the Government Accountability Office on behalf of a logistics and shipping company.
• Lead counsel for a Department of Defense contractor in negotiating a zero dollar settlement of a government contracts dispute before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.
• Lead counsel for a Department of Defense contractor in a breach of contract claim filed by a subcontractor in California federal court.
• Lead counsel for NASA contractor in successful resolution of a contract dispute relating to labor costs incurred under a services contract in proceedings before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.
• Lead counsel for government contractor in dispute with the Department of Homeland Security, which resulted in resolution of all disputes in contractor’s favor.
• Lead counsel for Department of Defense contractor with respect to contract disputes in Iraq.
• Lead counsel for government contractor with respect to its agreements with the Department of the Treasury to provide cash management services.

Community and Firm Involvement: In addition to serving as a practice group leader, Mr. Manthripragada is Co-Chair of the Los Angeles Office’s Diversity Committee. Mr. Manthripragada is also deeply committed to his pro bono practice and was recognized by the City of Los Angeles for his pro bono work on behalf of human trafficking victims and transition-aged foster youth. He has been recognized by various other organizations, including the Bay Area Legal Aid Foundation, for his pro bono efforts. He was also honored as a winner of Gibson Dunn’s Frank Wheat Memorial Award for his commitment to pro bono work.

Mr. Manthripragada currently serves on the board of the Los Angeles Urban League, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting education, job training, housing, and community development in underserved communities in Los Angeles.

Selected Publications and Webcasts:

• “Aerospace and Related Technologies Update – Spring 2021” Gibson Dunn Client Alert, April 20, 2021
• Recent Trends in Arbitration and Worker Classification: What Companies Need to Know in 2020, May 22, 2020
• “Aerospace and Related Technologies Update – Spring 2020” Gibson Dunn Client Alert, May 19, 2020
• “2018 Year-End Government Contracts Litigation Update” Gibson Dunn Client Alert, February 14, 2019
• “2018 Mid-Year Government Contracts Litigation Update” Gibson Dunn Client Alert, July 30, 2018
• “Aerospace and Related Technologies – Key Developments in 2017 and Early 2018” Gibson Dunn Client Alert, March 16, 2018
• “Species protection versus state agency autonomy: who wins under the California Endangered Species Act?” 36 Envtl. L. Rep. News & Analysis 10644-10657 (2006).

Education and Background: Mr. Manthripragada received a law degree in 2007 from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he served as Chief Comments Editor and Articles Editor of the UCLA Journal of Environmental Law & Policy. While in law school, Mr. Manthripragada served as a judicial extern to Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Duke University in 2004.

Before attending law school, Mr. Manthripragada worked in the field of public health, including at the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Public Health Association.

Mr. Manthripragada is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and the state of California.

Capabilities

• Government Contracts
• Appellate and Constitutional Law
• Class Actions
• False Claims Act / Qui Tam Defense
• Labor and Employment
• Litigation
• Transportation and Space

Credentials

Education:

• University of California - Los Angeles - 2007 Juris Doctor
• Duke University - 2004 Bachelor of Science

Admissions:

• California Bar
• District of Columbia Bar