Archive for 2025
Texas Supreme Court Rules for AZA Client in Downtown Lease Case
HOUSTON – The Supreme Court of Texas ruled in favor of AZA’s client in a dispute over appraisals and the eventual rent for space at the Bank of America Center in downtown Houston. The high court reversed and remanded the case to the trial court. At issue was whether a third–party appraiser hired as a neutral had a duty to disclose that one of the parties had contacted him about […]
AZA Opens Dallas Office in January 2026
DALLAS – AZA in January 2026 will break its 32-year tradition and open a second office. The 64-lawyer Houston trial boutique is branching out to Dallas with offices in the downtown Trammell Crow Center. The plan is to have 10 lawyers in Dallas within 12 months, although the office will launch with 5 lawyers. Intellectual […]
AZA Wins First Texas Business Court Trial
AZA successfully represented Marathon Oil Company (recently acquired by ConocoPhillips) in the first trial held in the newly established Texas Business Courts. After a five-day trial, Business Court Judge Melissa Andrews ruled that Marathon validly invoked force majeure and was not liable for $26.5 million in damages related to natural gas deliveries it could not […]
AZA Partner Shahmeer Halepota Awarded Fourth Rising Star Honor in Six Months
HOUSTON – Partner Shahmeer Halepota has once again been honored by a legal group as a rising star in the profession. The National Association of Muslim Lawyers (NAML), a 30-year-old organization, named Mr. Halepota as its Rising Star Award recipient at the group’s annual conference in Irvine, Calif., this month. The NAML award is […]
AZA Honored by Best Law Firms for 14th Year and in Multiple Categories
HOUSTON – AZA is being recognized for the 14th year among the Best Law Firms in Houston and nationally by The Best Lawyers in America. This year, it is honored as a Tier 1 Houston firm for its appellate work and in five categories of litigation – commercial, intellectual property, employment law for management, construction and personal […]
Texas Lawbook: AZA to Open Dallas Office in January
Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, the trial boutique that has operated in Houston for more than 32 years, will open its first satellite office on Jan. 1. This week, John Zavitsanos signed the lease agreement for office space inside the Trammell Crow Center in downtown Dallas. The firm currently employs 64 attorneys in Houston and will launch the […]
AZA and Four Lawyers Ranked Highly by Legal 500 City Elite
HOUSTON – The AZA law firm and four of its leading trial lawyers were among those ranked highly for Houston commercial disputes by Legal 500. John Zavitsanos, Todd Mensing, Tim Shelby and Daryl Moore were all ranked in the award platform’s City Elite rankings. Legal500 has been benchmarking excellence in law since 1987, focusing mainly on global law firms with corporate clients. They have recently […]
The Top 10 Trial Mistakes That You Didn’t Know Were Mistakes
OCTOBER 6, 2025 | BY JOHN ZAVITSANOS Many trial-centric CLEs set forth the traditional top 10 tips for a successful trial presentation. Examples include: Don’t ask a question to which you do not know the answer, be honest and ethical, tell a compelling story, make sure your witnesses are prepared, don’t fight with opposing counsel, […]
Jury Awards AZA Client $78.5 Million in Patent Infringement Case Against Samsung
MARSHALL, Texas – After a five-day trial, a federal jury awarded AZA’s client Anonymous Media Research Holdings the full $78,512,999 requested from Samsung Electronics Co. for infringing on two patents. The jury in U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap’s Eastern District of Texas court heard how Samsung improperly used two Anonymous Media patents covering methods for improving automatic […]
AZA Once Again Named a National Most Feared Law Firm in Client Survey
HOUSTON – A national survey of general counsel and top-level legal counsel consumers once again put AZA on the list of BTI Consulting’s Most Feared Law Firms. The list compiled by BTI, which specializes in strategic legal market research and has rated the best legal client services for decades, is largely populated by national Big […]
AZA Raises Starting Salary to Exceed National Big Law Market
HOUSTON – Houston trial boutique AZA announces it will hike its first-year lawyer salary from the market rate followed by the national Big Law firms of $225,000, up to $235,000. Second-year salaries will also climb $10,000. “Our young lawyers aren’t stuck making other people’s outlines. They’re out trying cases, and we’ll pay them more for […]
AZA Co-founder Joe Ahmad Named a Lawdragon Leading Corporate Employment Lawyer 2026
HOUSTON – Name partner Joe Ahmad, co-founder of AZA, was named once again to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers list. The 2026 edition marks the third year Mr. Ahmad has been on this list. He was again cited for his expertise in executive representation. Lawdragon says the Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers list is […]
Twenty-Five AZA Lawyers Named 2025 Texas Super Lawyers & Rising Stars
HOUSTON – Twenty-five AZA lawyers earned 2025 recognition by Texas Super Lawyers as Super Lawyers or Rising Stars for excellence, largely in business litigation, intellectual property and appellate work. Firm co-founders Joe Ahmad and John Zavitsanos were once again listed among the Top 100 lawyers in Texas and in Houston. Mr. Zavitsanos is listed for […]
AZA Wins $140 Million Victory for Houston Bank
HOUSTON – A former executive for Houston-based Cornerstone Capital Bank capitulated during a Harris County trial and agreed to take nothing on his $140 million demand for payment of frivolous discrimination claims. Manuel Valdes was terminated in January 2023 for various breaches of his fiduciary duties to Cornerstone. Cornerstone filed a lawsuit to enforce the […]
AZA Partner Shahmeer Halepota Speaks at The United Nations
UNITED NATIONS – AZA partner Shahmeer Halepota served on a five-person panel at the United Nations on Sept. 11, discussing a water crisis in Pakistan and the ramifications and rights created under an international water rights treaty. Mr. Halepota, who has substantial international law experience, was asked to analyze methods that the Indus Waters Treaty […]
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