Joseph M. Cacace

• Business Litigation
• Appellate Litigation
• Media, First Amendment, and Defamation Law
• Employment Law and Litigation
• Real Estate Litigation
• Civil Rights Litigation
• Class Action/Mass Tort Litigation
• Professional Liability Litigation

Appellate Results

• Judge Rotenberg Educ. Ctr, Inc., & others v. Commissioner of the Department of Developmental Services, 492 Mass. 772 (2023) (Persuaded Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to uphold a 1987 consent decree allowing in limited circumstances life-saving aversive treatments for patients with severe emotional and intellectual disabilities)
• Vo v. De Jager (Mass. App. Div. 2022) (Persuaded Appellate Division of Boston Municipal Court to vacate jury verdict and order new trial in defamation case based upon plaintiff’s failure to identify the allegedly defamatory statements, evidentiary errors, and an erroneous jury instruction on the evidentiary impact of a prior criminal acquittal in a civil case) 
• Judge Rotenberg Educ. Ctr., Inc. v. U.S. Food & Drug Admin., et al., 3 F.4th 390 (D.C. Cir. 2021) (Persuaded D.C. Circuit to vacate FDA’s ban of electrical stimulation devices used to treat aggressive or self-injurious behavior because banning a medical device for a particular purpose regulates the practice of medicine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 396)
• Heagney v. Wong, 915 F.3d 805 (1st Cir. 2019) (First appellate decision affirming plaintiff's verdict for employer's violation of M.G.L. c. 151B, § 4(9), which protects employees from having to disclose criminal charges that do not result in conviction)
• Preston v. Nagel, 857 F.3d 1382 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (Persuaded U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that the America Invents Act does not permit appellate review of an order remanding a case from federal to state court)

Business Litigation 

• Persuaded a Massachusetts Superior Court judge to grant a preliminary injunction in a shareholder dispute ordering that a newly elected board of directors and new corporate officers remain in place at a medical cannabis dispensary and cultivation company
• Obtained dismissal with prejudice of minority shareholder oppression action in federal court in New Jersey
• Secured a favorable settlement for 50 percent shareholders of closely held regional manufacturing company related to arbitration of buyout dispute involving sophisticated business valuation issues and direct and derivative claims for breach of fiduciary duties and breach of contract
• Obtained favorable settlement for ophthalmologist after filing suit against former partner for breaches of contract and fiduciary duty in connection with breakup of the business
• Represented judgment creditor in fraudulent transfer action; obtained injunctive relief and dismissal of abuse of process claims under anti-SLAPP statute; secured favorable settlement
• Represented car wash equipment distribution company in breach of contract dispute with car wash owner, which settled after obtaining favorable evidentiary ruling immediately before trial

Defamation 

• Defended media company in major defamation lawsuit brought by voting technology company concerning coverage of 2020 U.S. presidential election, which resulted in confidential settlement during jury selection after a series of favorable pretrial rulings

• Obtained $500,000 defamation judgment against media defendant, which represented that it would cease operations of the website that published the defamatory article and issued a public apology to the firm’s client, a Catholic priest and the Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Manchester, N.H.

• Obtained a $1.5 million federal court jury verdict on behalf of a law enforcement official for defamation and job discrimination

Civil Rights and Tort Claims

• Defeated government’s motion to dismiss Federal Tort Claims Act lawsuit filed on behalf of children separated from their parents at the border before favorably settling the case 
• Persuaded a federal district court judge in Massachusetts to permit a civil rights class action lawsuit to proceed against the City of Methuen, its police chief, and several individual police officers for using a factually inaccurate and coercive Spanish-language advice-of-rights form during OUI arrests
• Represented minor student in lawsuit against municipality, school officials, and former teacher for sexual harassment and abuse by former teacher, which settled favorably after mediation following summary judgment briefing

Class Action

• Defense of putative class actions under the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, resulting in favorable settlements and dismissals with prejudice

Criminal Matters

• Defended individual charged with federal tax obstruction in multi-defendant federal criminal tax evasion prosecution, resulting in favorable plea agreement and sentence of home detention

• Todd & Weld LLP, 2013-present
• Goodwin Procter LLP, 2010-2013
• Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert J. Cordy, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, 2008-2009

Education

• Suffolk University Law School (J.D., summa cum laude, 2008) Editor-in-Chief, Suffolk University Law Review; Suffolk University Law Faculty Outstanding Student Award
• Boston College (B.A., cum laude, 2003)

Bar Admissions

• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• U.S. District Court, Massachusetts
• U.S. District Court, New Hampshire
• U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit

• Former member of the Massachusetts Bar Association's Appellate Bench Bar Committee and Amicus Brief Committee
• Member, Large Law Firm Subcommittee of Supreme Judicial Court Steering Committee on Lawyer Well-Being, 2018-2019
• American Bar Association
• Massachusetts Bar Association
• New Hampshire Bar Association
• Boston Bar Association

• Named to Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation, 2025
• Named to Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch for Appellate Practice; Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Labor and Employment, 2022-2024
• Named to Massachusetts Super Lawyers for Business Litigation, 2023-2024
• Named by Super Lawyers to Massachusetts Rising Stars for Business Litigation, 2015-2021
• Named to Boston magazine's Top Lawyers 2023

• Presenter, Getting the Benefit of the Bargain in Breach of Contract Claims, MCLE, September 2021
• Panel Chair, Prevailing in COVID-19 Litigation, MCLE Webinar, February 2021
• Presenter, Social Media Inside and Outside of the Workplace, Real Estate Bar Association, November 2020
• Presenter, How to be Successful in Remote Court Hearings, MCLE, July 2020
• Presenter, Social Media Issues Inside and Outside the Workplace, MCLE's 22nd Annual Paralegal Conference, June 2020
• "Safely navigating the ethical perils of social media," Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Feb. 10, 2020
• "Taxing discovery: Understanding when returns are privileged," Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, March 5, 2018
• "Compelling Evidence from Non-parties in Arbitration, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, May 5, 2015
• "Plurality Decisions in the Supreme Court of the United States: A Reexamination of the Marks Doctrine After Rapanos v. United States," 41 Suffolk U.L Rev. 97 (2007)

• Board of Governors, Law Clerks' Society of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts