OUR ATTORNEYS

Since graduating from law school in 1986, Mr. DiCarlo has spent his entire career litigating complex, high stakes civil law suits. The cases he handles cover a broad rangeof topics, including fraud,securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, lender liability,professional malpractice, bankruptcy-related litigation,RICO, director and officerliability, products liability, insurance bad faith and general breach of contract.

Mr. DiCarlo began his career at Kelley Drye & Warren, a major New York law firm.  At Kelley Drye, he worked on many large matters, including the defense of Union Carbide in the Bhopal gas disaster litigation.  After a lengthy bench trial, he successfully co-defended Whirlpool Financial from a bad faith claim in In re Reveley, 148 B.R. 398(Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 1992), which is still considered an important case for involuntary bankruptcy filings.  In 1995, Mr. DiCarlo relocated to Arizona and joined Beus GilbertPLLC, a firm with a national practice representing plaintiffs such as institutional investors, creditors and bankruptcy trustees in complex law suits usually involving wellover $100 million in damages.

In 2005, Mr. DiCarlo formed DiCarlo, Caserta & Phelps where he continues torepresent clients in complex, high stakes litigation. Among other cases, he is currentlydefending several large private companies against multiple law suits filed in differentcourts throughout the country arising from the failure of National Warranty InsuranceCompany.

Over recent years, Mr. DiCarlo has successfully litigated many large cases. Some

noteworthy matters include:

•  Successful representation of the bankruptcy estate of a Florida-based sub-prime lender against a big four accounting firm and several former officers and directors. The case was favorably resolved with a confidential settlement.

• Represented bankruptcy trustee of Boston Chicken in claims against multiple parties.  Personally responsible for pursuing claims against a major law firm that resulted in near policy-limit eight figure settlement.

• Successfully represented four large institutional investors in securities fraud claims against underwriters and accountants involved in note offering. The case resulted in the clients recovering the entire principal balance of their investments.

• Represented bankruptcy trustee of Bonneville Pacific in claims against various defendants for fraud, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract.  Personally responsible for pursuing claims against three defendants which resulted in over $52 million in recoveries for bankruptcy estate.

Mr. DiCarlo received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University and his law degree from New York Law School, where he was an editor on the law review. He is admitted to practice law in Arizona, New York, Connecticut, the Ninth Circuit, the District of Arizona and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.  

Jace's practice emphasize business transactions and estate planning. His clients include personal estate planning clients, and  all types and sizes of business owners and businesses, from “mom and pop” operations to multi-million dollar ventures. Regardless of size, however, he firmly believes that each client deserves his personal attention to their matter.  By maintaining strong personal relationships with his clients, Jace hopes to better understand his clients and their needs and to provide better legal counsel. 

Jace resides in DC Ranch in north Scottsdale with his wife and three children.  Besides spending time with his family, Jace is a volunteer Steward with the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy (“MSC”). He recently completed his second and final term as a Commissioner on the City of Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve Commission, which advises the Scottsdale City Council on matters relating to Scottsdale's 30,000+ acre McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Jace's service included a term as chairman pf the Preserve Commission. He remains active with the Preserve by serving on the City's trails working team and Preserve acquisition working team.

Jace was a founding member of the Scottsdale law firm of McKeighan Pierce PC in 2003, and was also a founding member of DiCarlo Caserta & McKeighan PLC. Jace is a native of rural Vermont and attended one of Vermont's last one-room school houses for 1st and 2nd grades. He attended high school in upstate New York since the only  high school nearby was across the state line.  After graduating from Franklin & Marshall College in 1989, Jace took a position as a corporate paralegal in New York City for two years.  Upon graduating from Northeastern University School of Law in 1994, Jace served as a confidential law clerk to the Honorable Scott D. Keller of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas in Reading, PA, where he drafted the trial court opinion in Pennsyvlania v. Sattazahn that was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision in January 2003.  Before moving to Arizona in 1997, Jace worked as an associate for two years with the Poughkeepsie, New York firm of McCabe & Mack, LLP, concentrating in commercial transactions and litigation, employment discrimination defense, and insurance defense.  He continued his practice in commercial litigation and transactions with the Arizona firms of Beus Gilbert and Grant Williams, P.C., before forming his own firm - McKeighan Pierce PC - in 2003.

Mr. McKeighan is admitted to practice in the states of Arizona and New York, and in the Federal District Court for the District of Arizona and the Eastern, Southern and Northern Districts of New York.  He is a lifetime member of The Million Dollar Advocates Forum.