San Antonio-based South Texas Spinal Clinic has sued Brentwood, Tenn.-based Surgery Partners, alleging the company used acquisition talks to obtain confidential data and then recruit the clinic’s top-producing physicians, according to court documents reviewed by Becker’s.
The lawsuit, filed Oct. 9 in the Texas Business Court in San Antonio, seeks more than $5 million in damages. It alleges trade secret misappropriation, fraud, breach of contract, tortious interference and unfair competition. The other defendants are Surgery Partners’ San Antonio affiliate, Orthopedic & Spine Surgical Hospital of South Texas, which operates as South Texas Surgical & Specialty Group, and spine surgeon Antonio Webb, MD.
Surgery Partners approached the clinic about an acquisition in 2024. The parties signed a nondisclosure agreement Nov. 5, 2024. According to the complaint, Surgery Partners reviewed the clinic’s financial records and physician productivity data. The lawsuit accuses the company of focusing on identifying the physicians who generated the most revenue.
The lawsuit claims Surgery Partners ended negotiations without explanation in December 2025. In March, the company registered the South Texas Surgical & Specialty Group name with the Texas secretary of state’s office. Dr. Webb was the clinic’s representative on the board of the Surgery Partners-affiliated South Texas Spine & Surgical Hospital. He left to join the competing group this spring, and physicians Dianne Lou, MD, PhD, Joel Edionwe, MD, and Diane McShane, MD, left with him. The clinic accuses Dr. Webb of sharing confidential information to help build the rival practice.
“It trusted what was presented to them as a legitimate business opportunity,” Brad Thompson, an Austin attorney representing the clinic, told the San Antonio Express-News.
Mr. Thompson affirmed these statements over the phone to Becker’s.
Surgery Partners operates more than 300 locations in 30 states and reported $3.3 billion in revenue in 2025.
The defendants had not responded to the lawsuit as of Oct. 13.
Becker’s has reached out to Surgery Partners for comment and will update this story if more information becomes available.
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