Archive for 2023
AZA Wins Summary Judgment for Saltgrass Restaurant in Contract Case
HOUSTON – A federal judge granted Saltgrass Steak House’s motion for summary judgment in a contract feud with a neighboring landowner over whether a new BJ’s restaurant could replace a closed Joe’s Crab Shack. This case concerns a 2006 easement agreement between Joe’s Crab Shack Real Estate Holdings, Inc. and Saltgrass, Inc. At the time of […]
Three AZA Lawyers Named to Lawdragon’s Next Generation of 500 Leading Lawyers in America
HOUSTON – AZA lawyers Weining Bai, Jason McManis and Kelsi Stayart White were named to “Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation” list of leading lawyers in America. Mr. Bai was named for his prowess in both intellectual property litigation and commercial litigation. Mr. McManis was cited for his expertise in intellectual property litigation. Ms. […]
AZA Wins Appeal for Energy Sector Company at U.S. Fifth Circuit
HOUSTON – The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Fair Labor Standards Act case summary judgment win for AZA client FMC Technologies Inc., a global provider of technology services for the energy industry. An installation engineer at FMC made a Fair Labor Standards Act claim that he, and numerous other installation engineers like […]
AZA Again Named a Top Texas Patent Trial Firm by Prestigious International IP Guide
HOUSTON – AZA has again been named a top-level Texas patent litigation firm by London-based intellectual property publisher IAM. AZA was rated among the top 15 Texas firms for patent work, most of the others being Big Law firms. AZA partners Jason McManis and Todd Mensing were also recommended as among the best by IAM. AZA […]
AZA Earns Prestigious Chambers USA Rankings for the 10th Year in a Row
HOUSTON – Chambers USA, the independent and prestigious legal guide, has ranked AZA among the top Texas law firms for both commercial litigation and intellectual property work for the 10th time. AZA’s three name partners were individually honored as well in the 2023 results. Firm co-founder John Zavitsanos and partner Todd Mensing are ranked for […]
John Zavitsanos Named Again to Lawdragon’s 500 Top Plaintiff Financial Lawyers List
HOUSTON – AZA co-founding partner John Zavitsanos has been named once again to The 2023 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers. Mr. Zavitsanos is honored in the 2023 list for his representation of plaintiffs in commercial litigation, intellectual property, and securities litigation cases. In announcing the 2023 list, Lawdragon’s editors said of the honorees: “this […]
AZA Wins Three Trials in Just Two Weeks in May
HOUSTON – In just two weeks in May, AZA lawyers won three trials. They won for a fuel company in a take-nothing judgment, the Port of Houston in an employment dispute and a medical group quelling a fraud claim. These were the ninth, 10th and 11th cases AZA lawyers have already tried to verdict or […]
AZA Wins Take-Nothing Judgment for Fuel Company
HOUSTON – AZA defeated a $5 million breach of contract claim for a Houston-based fuel company that was sued by an international fuel trader. A Harris County district judge ruled in May for AZA’s client following a one-week trial in April that ended with both sides submitting proposed findings, conclusions, and judgments. This was the […]
AZA Client Raymond Chang Named ACC General Counsel of the Year After Hard-Earned Jury Win
HOUSTON – DistributionNOW (DNOW) General Counsel Raymond Chang was honored for his perseverance by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook with the 2023 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department. Mr. Chang won in large part for the way he managed a grueling piece […]
AZA Client Wins Multimillion Arbitration Award for Breach of Contract
DALLAS – An arbitration panel has awarded $3.4 million to MMWKM Advisors, which does business as Retirement Planners of America (RPOA), a Plano-based investment advisory firm, from former employee Joseph Dowdall, a Plano-based financial planner. The three-arbitrator panel for the American Arbitration Association found that Mr. Dowdall breached his contractual and fiduciary duties […]
Thirteen AZA Attorneys Earn Texas Rising Stars Honor
HOUSTON – Thirteen AZA lawyers were selected to the 2023 Texas Rising Stars list of leading young attorneys, an honor based on independent research and peer nominations. Partners Taylor Freeman, Edward “Ward” Goolsby, Shahmeer Halepota and Jason McManis were named to the list, which is a part of Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers. Associates Weining Bai, […]
Texas Jury returns nearly $9M verdict against Toby Eoff and others involved in conspiracy against energy giant
RICHMOND, TX – A unanimous Fort Bend County jury late Wednesday found that prominent Odessa businessman Toby Eoff willfully and maliciously conspired with other former employees of DistributionNOW (DNOW) to steal the energy sector giant’s trade secrets. The verdict included a finding that Mr. Eoff breached his fiduciary duty to Houston-based DNOW when he conspired […]
Todd Mensing Named to Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in Environmental Law
HOUSTON – AZA partner Todd Mensing has been named to Lawdragon’s list of the 2023 Green 500 Leading Lawyers in Environmental Law. In announcing their honorees, Lawdragon’s editors said they selected this year’s “remarkable group from our time-honed process of journalistic reporting, nominations and vetting with peers and experts in environmental law.” Mr. Mensing […]
AZA and Hogan Thompson Win $41.8 Million Jury Verdict
TILDEN, Texas – The AZA and Hogan Thompson law firms teamed up to win their two clients a total of $41.8 million from a South Texas jury in an oil and gas trespass case. A McMullen County jury unanimously found that AZA’s client SilverBow Resources and Hogan Thompson’s client El Dorado Gas & Oil were […]
AZA Adds Veteran Trial Lawyer Chris Hackerman
HOUSTON – AZA has hired seasoned trial lawyer Chris Hackerman whose deep experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants ranges from trade secret and employee misappropriation cases to antitrust violations and fraud claims. Mr. Hackerman has more than 25 years of experience and joins the firm as Of Counsel. He has represented business clients in a […]
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