 IN THIS NEWSLETTER   What We Have Done for Our Clients Lately So far, 2021 has been a terrific year at AZA. We are currently trying our eighth case, and with several out-of-state trials in the coming months, we are on pace for another double-digit trial year. We’ve had another multimillion-dollar jury win and a multimillion-dollar settlement, and we won a Texas Supreme Court argument for a client. We also named three new partners, and former judge Daryl Moore set up a popular arbitration practice. Here’s a sample of what we’ve done for our clients lately:
  
Clients Like Us! We love and respect our clients and are blessed that they love and respect us back. Some of our clients generously made a video to discuss AZA’s work for their businesses. Brent Southwell, chairman of Professional Janitorial Service, explains why he’d recommend AZA to anyone who wants to win.  We Have More Proof – More than once, we’ve been hired by folks who saw us in court — but not on their side. Karina Amelang, general counsel of Solugen, explains why she hired AZA after first being across the table from our firm. She finds us to be unique and able to represent our clients with fearlessness.  And Yet More Proof – We get some clients by referral and some because of our reputation. Shahid Ghauri, general counsel of W&T Offshore, explains why he hired AZA and how the firm lived up to its great reputation. He finds that we are strategic in our use of finesses and aggressiveness.  Weining Bai  Weining Bai’s fluent Mandarin has helped AZA break through into Chinese patent work. He’s on the phone at odd hours, early in the morning and late at night, talking to his Chinese counterparts and making what used to be thought of as a dead zone for American law firms a fertile ground for AZA. “Weining is what legal scholars call a total ‘bad ass.’ Not only is he technically brilliant and AZA Jigsaw Puzzle Our tactics at AZA may seem puzzling at times, but we always have a strategy in mind. See if you can see our big picture by putting the pieces together.  Recognition Roundup There are a lot of awards out there for lawyers and law firms. Some of the ones we received made us especially proud.  AZA was honored as a National Elite Trial Law Firm for the stunning federal jury verdict secured for a group of ER doctors being grossly underpaid by national managed care company Centene. The firm and lead lawyer John Zavitsanos were honored in the insurance liability category by respected legal news publication National Law Journal. AZA was the only Texas-based firm among the 21 national honorees, in a variety of legal practice categories, that were announced at an awards presentation in New York City on July 29. The six-day trial that earned the National Law Journal‘s attention was conducted in person in Arkansas during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. The verdict, including fees, totaled $12 million after the six jurors found in favor of Southeastern Emergency Physicians, LLC, an affiliate of TeamHealth Inc. It was ranked among the top 100 verdicts
nationally for 2020, according to VerdictSearch.  Chambers USA, the prestigious independent legal guide, has ranked AZA among the top Texas law firms for both commercial litigation and intellectual property work. This year, five of the firm’s lawyers are individually ranked as well, and firm co-founder John Zavitsanos earned a “Spotlight” ranking as one of only 21 top Texas trial lawyers listed.  AZA, for the seventh consecutive year, has been named a top-level Texas patent litigation firm by London-based intellectual property publisher IAM. AZA was rated top-tier, or gold level, with only five other Texas firms, three of them international Big Law firms. Three AZA partners were also recommended by IAM Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Professionals 2021. The new guide said of the AZA lawyers: “In complex patent and IP litigation, AZA is efficient and cost effective, and delivers excellent results. Its lawyers listen to their clients and understand their needs, and are superb at tailoring  AZA is proud that 11 of the firm’s trial lawyers have earned recognition on the 2021 Texas Rising Stars list, which honors the state’s leading young attorneys. For the fifth straight year, AZA partner Sammy Ford IV was named a “Top 100 Texas Up & Coming” lawyer for his business litigation skills. He has made the Rising Stars list every year since 2013. Also making the list this year are partner Taylor Freeman and associates Weining Bai, Nathan Campbell, Edward Goolsby, Shahmeer Halepota, Foster Johnson, Jason McManis, Kyle Poelker, Paul Turkevich and Patrick Yarborough. Mr. Bai and Mr. McManis were John Zavitsanos   AZA co-founding partner John Zavitsanos was interviewed by NPR’s Morning Edition host A Martinez about AZA’s office opening and vaccination mandate policies in “Houston-Based Law Firm Insists That Employees Return To The Office.” John was interviewed about AZA’s reopening early during the pandemic and why he finds Zoom calls and working from home don’t work as well for his trial team as they do for some other businesses. AZA went to trial six times in 2020, and the trial teams need to be together, he said. “It is just not possible to have the kind of collaboration and have the kind of seamless progression in the way you try these cases. With everyone working from home, it can’t be done,” he explained.He said Zoom calls aren’t organic discussions, because people can’t cut
|
