People

anthony lucisano baker botts houston
Anthony Lucisano
Senior Associate

Overview

Tony Lucisano is a litigation senior associate in the Houston office of Baker Botts. He represents clients in a variety of complex litigation matters with a focus on appellate proceedings and critical motions practice. Tony has briefed and argued appeals and dispositive motions in both state and federal court.

Tony's appellate practice encompasses all manner of complex disputes, including commercial litigation, energy litigation, securities litigation, regulatory issues, constitutional issues, and statutory interpretation. His trial-court practice focuses principally on representing companies and their officers and directors in securities class actions, derivative lawsuits, suits challenging mergers, and proxy litigation.

Prior to joining Baker Botts, Tony served as a law clerk for the Honorable Thomas M. Reavley of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and for the Honorable John P. Devine of the Supreme Court of Texas.

Admission & Affiliations

  • State Bar of Texas
  • United States Courts of Appeals for the Second and Fifth Circuits
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
  • J.D., Baylor Law School 2016
    summa cum laude
    Valedictorian
    Managing Executive Editor, Baylor Law Review
    Received the highest grade in 15 courses
  • B.A., Political Science & Arabic, University of Notre Dame 2013

Experience

Federal Appeals

  • Briefed and argued appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit successfully defending dismissal of a putative securities fraud action against an E&P company. (Rotunno v. Wood, et. al, 2022 WL 14997930 (2d Cir. Oct. 27, 2022))
  • Briefed and argued appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit successfully defending dismissal of breach of contract and fraud claims arising out of a commercial real estate dispute. (North Presidio, L.L.C. v. Lowe's Home Centers, L.L.C., 808 F. App’x 275 (5th Cir. 2020))
  • Briefed appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit successfully defending dismissal of Oil Pollution Act claims involving issue of first impression concerning the meaning of “oil.”&(Munoz v. Intercontinental Terminals Company, L.L.C., 85 F.4th 343 (5th Cir. 2023), motion for rehearing filed)
  • Briefed appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit successfully reversing contempt sanctions in part. (Vinmar International, Ltd. v. Ravago Americas, LLC, 832 F. App’x 249 (5th Cir. 2020))
  • Contributed to briefing for appeal in U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit successfully defending dismissal of putative securities class action brought under Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. (Kuebler, v. Vectren Corp., et al., 13 F.4th 631 (7th Cir.2021))

State Appeals

  • Briefed and argued appeal in the Texas Third Court of Appeals successfully defending first-of-its-kind due-process challenge to a newspaper notice issued under Texas' municipal bond validation statute. (City of Magnolia v. Magnolia Bible Church, et al., 629 S.W.3d 471 (Tex. App.—Austin 2020, no pet.))
  • Briefed appeal in the Texas Supreme Court securing reversal on novel defamation privilege issues under the Texas Citizens Participation Act. (Landry’s, LLC v. Animal Legal Defense Fund, 631 S.W.3d 40 (Tex. 2021))
  • Briefed appeal in the Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals securing affirmance of $147 million breach of contract award and persuaded Texas Supreme Court to deny review after full briefing on the merits. (Targa Channelview LLC v. Vitol Americas Corp., --- S.W.3d ---, 2022 WL 4137410 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Sept. 13, 2022, pet. denied,), rehearing pending)
  • Briefed appeal in the Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals securing reversal of “death penalty” sanctions striking Defendants’ pleadings. (In re Sw. Pub. Serv. Co., No. 13-22-00389-CV, 2023 WL 6818165, at *1 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi–Edinburg Oct. 16, 2023, no pet. h.))

Securities Litigation

  • Successfully moved to dismiss all claims against energy company and its officer in putative securities class action under Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act (Coggins v. Camber Energy, Inc., et al., --- F. Supp. 3d ---, 2023 WL6202056 (S.D. Tex. Sept. 22, 2023))
  • Successfully moved to dismiss all claims against former officers of E&P company brought under Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and state law (Unsecured Claim Pool Sub-Tr. of Liquidation Tr. of Lilis Energy, Inc. v. Ormand, No. 4:22-CV-02084, 2023 WL 3006699 (S.D. Tex. Apr. 17, 2023))
  • Successfully briefed and argued motion to dismiss supplemental claims against EPC company in putative securities class action brought under Sections 10(b) of the Exchange Act (Edwards v. McDermott Int’l, Inc., No. 4:18-CV-04330, 2022 WL 3927828, at *1 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 30, 2022), R&R Adopted, 2022 WL 4454391 (S.D. Tex. Sept. 23, 2022))
  • Successfully moved to dismiss all claims against professional employer organization and its officers in putative securities class action under Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act. (Building Trades Pension Fund of Western Pennsylvania v. Insperity, Inc., et al., No. 1:20-cv-05635, 2022 WL 784017 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 15, 2022))
  • Successfully moved to dismiss all claims against E&P company and its officers in putative securities class action under Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act. (Woodley v. Gulfport Energy Corp., et al., No. 20 CIV. 2357 (ER), 2021 WL 428634 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 8, 2021) (S.D.N.Y.))
  • Defending EPC company in putative securities class actions brought under Sections 10(b) and 14(a) of the Exchange Act. (Edwards v. McDermott International, Inc. et al, No. 4:18-cv-04330 (S.D. Tex.))
  • Defending E&P company and its officers and directors in putative securities class action under Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act. (In re Apache Corp. Securities Litigation, No. 4:21-cv-00575 (S.D. Tex.))
  • Defending E&P company and its officers in putative securities class action under Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act. (City of Warwick Retirement System v. Concho Resources, et al., No. 4:21-cv-03574 (S.D. Tex.))

Derivative & Other Shareholder Litigation

  • Defended officers and directors of E&P company in multiple derivative lawsuits in federal and state court, resulting in voluntary dismissal of all federal cases and dismissal with prejudice of state-court case (Wessels v. Christmann, et al., No. 2021-15121 (Harris Cnty. Dist. Ct.)) 
  • Defended officers and directors of E&P company in federal derivative lawsuit, resulting in voluntary dismissal of case. (Carter v. Wood, et al., No. 1:20-cv-00839-MN (D. Del.))
  • Defended independent directors against breach of fiduciary claims resulting from going-private transaction, resulting in plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal of claims. (Kahn v. Bee Street Holdings LLC, et al., No. 2021-0103 (Del. Ch.))
  • Defended majority shareholders against breach of fiduciary class action arising from going-private transaction; case settled. (Ligos v. Tsuff, et al., No. 2020-0435 (Del. Ch.)) 

Pro Bono

  • Represented a group of churches in litigation against a municipality over the constitutionality of its water-rate scheme.
  • Briefed motion for successive habeas on behalf of criminal defendant in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.