Knight of all Trades

Chris Lombardo ’80, always has something to keep him busy. From being an attorney to a fire commissioner and more in between, the University of Central Florida Department of Political Science graduate is a man of many talents.

Lombardo is now a partner at his own firm, Woodward, Pires and Lombardo in Naples, Fla. He’s gotten to handle a wide variety of cases ranging from family law, personal injury and civil and commercial litigation.

He graduated law school from Florida State University in 1983 and went straight to work. He came to his current firm as an attorney and was soon promoted to his current position. He loves his job and the people he works with.

“What we have here is a very good group of lawyers that are all very good friends,” Lombardo said. “It’s just a great environment.”

Lombardo loves working in the state where many people choose to retire.

“Most people work all their lives to get to Florida – I started here,” Lombardo said.

Florida has given him more opportunities than just his law career. He has been a fire commissioner for the North Collier County fire control and rescue district for 18 years.

The alumnus’ success is a result of his hard work throughout school.

His father’s job brought Lombardo and his family to Orlando when he was in still in grade school. After graduating from Winter Park High School, Lombardo chose to attend the up-and-coming college just down the road called Florida Technological University at the time.

Lombardo worked part-time jobs throughout college; parking cars at SeaWorld and then at his own art company printing graphics on T-shirts. He was also one of the founding members of UCF’s chapter of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.

A significant part of Lombardo’s UCF experience was taking classes and getting involved outside of his major. He took non-political science classes that interested him and spent time making art with UCF art students. His diverse knowledge base gives him insight into the wide variety of cases that he has worked on.

He also credits his interdisciplinary education with teaching him the best ways to communicate with different types of people.

“Talking to people is a skill that is especially important for a political science major,” Lombardo said. “When you get into your job, the ability to understand how different people think, function and analyze is critical to understand where they’re coming from and to respect them.”

Lombardo emphasizes the importance of understanding other people in order to succeed.

“Listen to people,” Lombardo said. “Let people talk to you. Listen to what they have to say and don’t dismiss them right out of the gate. You’ll learn what is important to them and you’ll learn how to help and lead them.”

Lombardo is proud of the programs at his alma mater that support his many passions and interests.