Joseph W. DiCecco

Joseph DiCecco is the Founding Partner of the Houston office.  He is an active member in the Commercial Litigation, Business Transactions, Insurance, Health Care, and Hospitality practice groups.

For the past 40 years, Joe has served the business, transactional and litigation needs of a multitude of business, industrial, manufacturing, financial, service industries and healthcare-based clients. In addition to his Commercial Transactional, Litigation and Healthcare experience, Joe has a large Insurance Defense practice, and is listed as panel counsel for a myriad of major North American insurers.

Joe has litigated 4500+ matters and has negotiated, mediated and consummated a broad range of commercial litigation (State and Federal Court and Arbitration), transactional, contracting and commercial/corporate matters for a wide variety of industries including manufacturing, service industries, the oil field (pipe/valve treating and distribution facilities, upstream and downstream), and healthcare providers/physician practices. He has served as lead counsel on numerous buy-side and sell-side mergers and acquisitions (asset and equity) transactions in those industries and serves as outside corporate counsel for public and private closely held entities, assisting them on a daily basis.

Admissions

• Texas
• U.S. District Court, Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court

Memberships

• Houston Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• State Bar of Texas
• Association of Legal Counsel
• Texas Trial Lawyers Association
• Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas

Community Involvement

• Joe has been a resident of Houston since 1966 and is the proud father of a daughter, Daniele, and three boys, Michael, Benjamin and Joseph. He is actively involved in a wide range of community services, in his church, the mission field, and non-profit organizations. Joe serves regularly on civic and professional boards and committees on behalf of his community.

Representative Experience

Examples of Joseph’s experience include the following:

Commercial Litigation and Insurance Defense Matters

• Secured dismissal of fraud claims related to the sale of a hospital in Houston.
• Prevailed on summary judgment against numerous business torts involving a dispute over a commercial lease.
• Litigated contract disputes involving hospital developments, land use restrictions, the sale of railcars, guaranty agreements and promissory notes, the sale of real property, stock purchase agreements, and many other matters.
• Representation of buyers and sellers in connection with earn-out disputes from the sale of businesses.
• Representation of hundreds of physicians throughout Texas related to business disputes, practice dissolutions, covenants not to compete, and other business matters.
• Representation of shareholders and directors against claims for breach of fiduciary duty and shareholder oppression.
• Representation of businesses and individuals involving claims of theft of trade secrets and violation of non-compete agreements.
• Defended attorneys against claims of negligence and legal malpractice.
• Defended businesses against claims for personal injury, catastrophic loss, and wrongful death.
• Representation of closely held businesses with collected annual revenues of $500,000-$500,000,000, serving as their outside counsel in a broad range of capacities from transactions to litigation.
• Representation of businesses and shareholders in minority shareholder oppression suits and fiduciary duty claims.
• A broad range of health care experience including representation of physicians, ambulatory surgery centers, hospitals and long term acute care facilities, and other health care providers in a number of capacities including restrictive covenant litigation, shareholder disputes, Board of Medical Examiner investigations, mergers and acquisitions, and practice and facilities sales.
• Representation of lawyers, architects, accountants, insurance brokers, and realtors in malpractice litigation.
• Litigated and tried multi-million dollar EBITDA earn-out dispute to arbitration award.
• Litigated and tried contract disputes to successful verdicts in Texas state courts.
• Litigated and tried shareholder oppression cases to successful verdicts in Texas state courts.
• Obtained dismissal of Petition for Writ of Mandamus before the Fourteenth Court of Appeals regarding the arbitratability of attorney-client engagement agreements.
• Obtained summary judgment on behalf of nationwide staffing company on claims for negligent hiring and supervision seeking over $15 million in damages.

Business Transactions Matters

• Acted as Lead Attorney in a myriad of transactions ranging from mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures to shareholder buy-sell agreements, secured transactions, leasing arrangements and sales and commission agreements.
• Represented an oil field pipe distributor/processor in a $50 million dollar transaction involving establishment and set-up, construction, project development, regulatory compliance and commercial contracting for a pipe processing and heat treat facility in the country of Panama in the new free trade zone.
• Represented a 23 Hospital Chain in a myriad of transactions including:
  • Funding/Expansion with new physician groups and ownership
  • Employee Stock Option Plan
  • Purchase and Sale of Hospital Facilities
  • Warren Act Litigation
  • Wage and Hour Litigation
  • Vendor and Physician Provider Contracting
  • Refinancing of primary and mezzanine lending facilities
  • Commercial and Employment Litigation
• Represented National Company as outside General Counsel in all aspects of its night club industry operations for 62 night clubs, including the following:
  • Establishment of Limited Partnerships and related funding in numerous jurisdictions
  • All aspects of contracting and Management Agreements
  • Food and Beverage and Safety Matters
  • Commercial, Personal Injury, Employment and OSHA Litigation Matters
  • Vendor and Key-Man Contracting
  • Facility leasing in numerous jurisdictions
  • Negotiation of purchase and sale of numerous operating night club units
  • Financing and Re-financing of numerous operating night club units
  • Minority Shareholder and oppression litigation matters
• Acted as outside General Counsel for and in behalf of a Mexican Restaurant chain with 47 units operating in 11 different states in the following practice areas:
  • Establishment of Limited Partnerships and related funding in numerous different jurisdictions
  • All aspects of contracting and Management Agreements
  • Food and Beverage and Safety Matters
  • Commercial, Personal Injury, Employment and OSHA Litigation Matters
  • Vendor and Key-Man Contracting
  • Facility leasing in numerous jurisdictions
  • Negotiation of purchase and sale of numerous operating night club units
  • Financing and Re-financing of numerous operating night club units
  • Minority Shareholder and oppression litigation matters
• Handled hundreds of Healthcare Transactions and Litigation Matters
• Continue to serve presently the myriad of commercial and entrepreneurial interests of over 500 individual physicians including the following:
  • Physician Contracting
  • Investments and Ambulatory Surgery Centers, doctor-owned Hospitals, Dialysis Centers, Oncology Centers, Infusion Facilities and the like
  • Privileges Disputes
  • Breach of contract claims in connection with Ambulatory Surgery Center operations
  • Restrictive Covenant Litigation and Contracting
  • State Board of Medical Examiners Investigations
  • Office of Inspector General Investigations
  • Governmental and non-governmental payor contracting and disputes
• On-going representation of over 50 physician groups ranging in size of 3 to 170 physician owners and employees in a myriad of transaction and litigation matters including the following:
  • Acquisition of Physician Groups and clinic expansions
  • Owner and Employed Physician Disputes including contracting, employment and clinical issues matters
  • Hospital Negotiations for provider contracting
  • State Board of Medical Examiner Matters
  • Joint Ventured opportunities with other strategic provider groups
  • Group implosion and termination disputes
  • Physician Code of Conduct contracting and disputes
  • Governmental and non-governmental payor matters
  • Leasing and capital equipment acquisition/financing

Publications

• Keeping Clients: Houston Partner's Focus on Personalized Service Retains Long-Term Business, Texas Lawyer Magazine, November 25, 2013

Education

J.D., South Texas College of Law, 1984

• Received awards for written and oral advocacy

B.B.A., University of Houston, 1978

• Honors Graduate

Honors

Super Lawyers® distinction in the field of Business Litigation (2012)

Houston's "Top Lawyers" by H Texas Magazine, Commercial Litigation (2011 & 2013)