AZA Associate Neal Sarkar Wins 2019 Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas Award

HOUSTON – The Texas Young Lawyers Association has selected AZA commercial litigator Neal Sarkar as Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas for 2019.

Mr. Sarkar will be presented the award in June at the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting in Austin. Each year the young lawyer’s organization honors one top attorney for professional proficiency and service to the legal profession and local community.

He was nominated by the Houston Young Lawyers Association, which earlier this year had named him Outstanding Young Lawyer for the Greater Houston area.

“Neal has a wildly strong work ethic, charisma and generosity. He really wants to help people, and this award was meant for someone like him. I know he will continue to do great things in the future,” said AZA co-founding partner Joe Ahmad, who nominated Mr. Sarkar for the Houston honor.

Mr. Sarkar helped lead the effort to restart the Houston Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society and has taken on a considerable role with the South Asian Bar Association. Through those organizations, he helped coordinate volunteer lawyers responding to the havoc of Hurricane Harvey, the Muslim ban, and family separations at the border. Mr. Sarkar regularly recruits others who donate their time and resources for worthy causes.

He also has worked tirelessly with the Coalition of Houston Diverse Bar Associations. He has been a Houston Bar Association ambassador and helped administer the HBA judicial evaluation poll as a member of the poll committee. Mr. Sarkar is active in the Texas Bar Foundation and has helped promote others in the New Leaders Council. He’s a member of the Houston Committee on Foreign Relations.

Mr. Sarkar said he was thrilled to receive this statewide recognition and credited his law firm. “I’m so grateful to work at a firm that gives young lawyers such opportunities and responsibilities. It builds confidence and skills that we apply both at work and in the community,” he said.  Mr. Sarkar also noted his appreciation for his supportive Houston community.

AZA co-founder John Zavitsanos said: “Neal does so much great work inside and outside the courtroom, it’s as if he’s two people. He is deserving of this terrific honor, and we are infinitely proud of him.”

AZA, or Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, is a Houston-based law firm that is home to true courtroom lawyers with a formidable track record in complex commercial litigation, including energy, intellectual property, and business dispute cases. AZA is recognized by Chambers USA 2019 among the best in Texas commercial law; by U.S. News – Best Lawyers’ Best Law Firms as one of the country’s best commercial litigation firms for seven years running including 2019; and previously by Law360 as a Texas Powerhouse law firm. National corporate counsel named AZA one of the country’s best in client service among law firms serving the Fortune 1000.