John Zavitsanos

Partner

John Zavitsanos

Partner

  • P: 713-600-4901
  • F: 713-655-0062
  • jzavitsanos@azalaw.com
  • vCard

John Zavitsanos is a highly regarded trial lawyer who loves trying cases and loves winning. He has achieved success for a multitude of clients – both defendants and plaintiffs, from big energy companies to lone whistleblowers battling the odds.

He has tried almost 100 cases to verdict in litigation that runs the gamut: financial services, oil and gas, construction, complex commercial disputes, director and officer liability, non-compete and trade-secret disputes, real estate development, and defamation/business disparagement. He is the primary author of O’Connor’s Texas Rules * Civil Trials 2018-2023, the premiere civil trial rules guide for Texas lawyers and judges.

He has learned from every jury trial by surveying the jurors after the case and learning what conventional wisdom has outlived its usefulness. That’s a lot of input, since he has tried more than a dozen cases in just the last few years

And his willingness – delight, actually – at trying a case with confidence has impressed numerous heavyweight clients. As one happy customer put it, “I find that many large law firms are willing to capitulate too quickly and pressure me to settle too soon.” He said he knows that Mr. Zavitsanos is “serious about going to trial.”

Mr. Zavitsanos’ considerable talents have been recognized by every possible legal rating service. For 18 consecutive years, he’s been listed by Best Lawyers in America. He’s recognized for his General Commercial Litigation work in Texas by the highly respected Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, published by London-based Chambers and Partners. He was also named a Benchmark Litigation Star in 2016-2022. And he is a Litigation Counsel of America Senior Fellow. And he was named a Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America for 2021, 2022, and 2023 with a focus on commercial litigation, intellectual property, and securities.

He has achieved the highest possible peer rating, AV Preeminent, by Martindale-Hubbell, the premier legal directory, for his Business Litigation practice. He’s been named by his peers as one of the top 100 Texas Lawyers on the annual Texas Super Lawyers list for the past eleven years. He was recently featured on the cover of Texas Super Lawyer magazine as one of only a handful of lawyers in Texas to be named a Super Lawyer every year for the past 20 years. He is board certified in civil trial law by both the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and the National Board of Trial Advocacy, an accomplishment held by less than 2 percent of all practicing lawyers in the state of Texas.

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John Zavitsanos is a highly regarded trial lawyer who loves trying cases and loves winning. He has achieved success for a multitude of clients – both defendants and plaintiffs, from big energy companies to lone whistleblowers battling the odds.

He has tried almost 100 cases to verdict in litigation that runs the gamut: financial services, oil and gas, construction, complex commercial disputes, director and officer liability, non-compete and trade-secret disputes, real estate development, and defamation/business disparagement. He is the primary author of O’Connor’s Texas Rules * Civil Trials 2018-2023, the premiere civil trial rules guide for Texas lawyers and judges.

He has learned from every jury trial by surveying the jurors after the case and learning what conventional wisdom has outlived its usefulness. That’s a lot of input, since he has tried more than a dozen cases in just the last few years

And his willingness – delight, actually – at trying a case with confidence has impressed numerous heavyweight clients. As one happy customer put it, “I find that many large law firms are willing to capitulate too quickly and pressure me to settle too soon.” He said he knows that Mr. Zavitsanos is “serious about going to trial.”

Mr. Zavitsanos’ considerable talents have been recognized by every possible legal rating service. For 18 consecutive years, he’s been listed by Best Lawyers in America. He’s recognized for his General Commercial Litigation work in Texas by the highly respected Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, published by London-based Chambers and Partners. He was also named a Benchmark Litigation Star in 2016-2022. And he is a Litigation Counsel of America Senior Fellow. And he was named a Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America for 2021, 2022, and 2023 with a focus on commercial litigation, intellectual property, and securities.

He has achieved the highest possible peer rating, AV Preeminent, by Martindale-Hubbell, the premier legal directory, for his Business Litigation practice. He’s been named by his peers as one of the top 100 Texas Lawyers on the annual Texas Super Lawyers list for the past eleven years. He was recently featured on the cover of Texas Super Lawyer magazine as one of only a handful of lawyers in Texas to be named a Super Lawyer every year for the past 20 years. He is board certified in civil trial law by both the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and the National Board of Trial Advocacy, an accomplishment held by less than 2 percent of all practicing lawyers in the state of Texas.

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The results of some of Mr. Zavitsanos’ cases

  • In 2022, Mr. Zavitsanos tried and won a multimillion dollar 3 week jury trial involving breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty on behalf of a national energy company.
  • In 2021, Mr. Zavitsanos won a $62.65 million verdict from a Nevada jury in a nationally watched case for emergency room physician group clients who were underpaid by United Healthcare, the largest insurer in the nation. The jury in this seven-week trial unanimously found malice, oppression, and fraud in the underpayment of the doctors. This verdict against a cluster of United Healthcare affiliates will serve as a bellwether for more than two dozen similar cases around the nation against various insurers.
  • In 2021, Mr. Zavitsanos successfully represented emergency room physicians in obtaining a $19.1 million Houston jury verdict against a large insurance company in the first case in the nation to litigate emergency room physicians’ out-of-network pay from private insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act. 
  • In 2021, Mr. Zavitsanos successfully represented the estate of a red snapper fisherman who had been cheated out of $1 million. We obtained $5.1 million for his heirs just when the jurors started to deliberate the four weeks of testimony they had heard. The pre-trial offer was $0.
  • In 2020, Mr. Zavitsanos successfully represented emergency room doctors in obtaining a $9.4 million jury verdict against an Arkansas insurance company in a breach-of-contract case in which the insurance company grossly underpaid emergency room doctors. AZA was hired six days before trial. AZA will be representing more emergency room doctors’ groups against insurance companies across the country that have been systematically stripping doctors of their pay. See the Texas Lawbook story on this win Six Days Notice, Six Witnesses, Six Jurors, 150 ER Doctors, Two Ticked Off In-House Counsel and a $9.4M Verdict (subscription required). It is in the 2020 Top 100 Verdicts as calculated by Verdict Search. It was a 2020 Top 10 Verdict nationally.
  • Won important ruling for an emergency room doctors’ group trying to get fair pay from insurance company. The Federal Court applied the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association and found that the Texas Insurance Code includes an implied private right of action. The decision advances the law in favor of AZA’s doctors’ group clients demanding fair pay for their work.
  • In 2020, Mr. Zavitsanos successfully represented National Oilwell Varco (NOV) in an Oklahoma jury trial over a tragic 2018 oil rig explosion that killed five workers. The devastating accident was the industry’s deadliest since the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The lawsuit was brought by two of the surviving families. After three weeks of grisly testimony, the jury found NOV only a small percentage responsible and found the company should pay far less than even the NOV pre-trial settlement offer. The jury awarded only one percent of the $200 million the plaintiffs’ lawyers asked from the jury. The jury found other companies 90 percent responsible for the accident.
  • In 2020 Mr. Zavitsanos was able to win a total dismissal of a $40 million lawsuit filed against his LNG plant builder client that was sued by a major international energy company over claims an investment was really a loan. Mr. Zavitsanos got the case dismissed on the eve of trial and his client never paid a penny to the giant energy company.
  • In 2018, Mr. Zavitsanos successfully represented Dr. Steven Hotze, part owner of a large energy-sector family business, in a complicated dispute involving allegations of fraud, securities violations, and breaching of fiduciary duties with potential costs of up to $30 million. After a five-week trial and a 65-page jury charge with 45 questions, the jury came back with a total defense victory for Mr. Zavitsanos’ client. The case was named among the largest Texas courtroom wins in 2018 by the Houston Chronicle in “The Biggest Courtroom Wins of 2018″ (subscription required) and Texas Lawbook in  “The Top Texas Litigation Stories of 2018” (subscription required).
  • In 2017, Mr. Zavitsanos successfully tried a breach of contract and bad faith insurance case for client Prime Natural Resources, which owned an offshore oil well damaged in Hurricane Rita. After six weeks in trial, AZA obtained a $41.6 million jury verdict against certain underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, that included $27.3 million in punitive damages and $10.9 million for bad faith. The case was one of the top 100 2017 verdicts in the nation, according to the National Law Journal.
  • In 2016, Professional Janitorial Services of Houston hired Mr. Zavitsanos to end a nearly 10-year-old case against a union that lied about the cleaning business and cost the company to lose business. He stopped the stalling, got it to trial within a month, and obtained a judgment of almost $8 million. This was the first case in the country to successfully go through a full trial that called into question the heavy handed tactics of SEIU, one of the three largest unions in the U.S.
  • In 2016, Mr. Zavitsanos represented a client sued by the trustee for a bankrupt company who decided to drop his lawsuit against AZA’s client after watching his expert witness cross-examined by Mr. Zavitsanos. The legal dispute that never got to the jury, even though it was three weeks into the trial, involved a series of shopping centers and other properties worth more than $30 million, and the question was whether company assets were divested improperly by AZA’s client.
  • In 2015, National Oilwell Varco was sued for $120 million by eight former employees claiming they were treated differently because of their race. Mr. Zavitsanos was hired after his client offered a substantial settlement that was refused. Instead, he got a take-nothing verdict for NOV in this hard-fought case in which plaintiffs were represented by high-profile civil rights lawyer Angela M. Alioto of San Francisco’s Law Offices of Mayor Joseph L. Alioto and Angela Alioto.
  • In 2014, Enterprise Products Operating LLC hired Mr. Zavitsanos in a $45 million pipeline case when it became clear this case was going to trial. He and AZA replaced a BigLaw firm. He immediately shifted the pre-trial strategy to focus on destroying the defenses arising out of the failed construction of underground pipelines designed to carry gasoline and other products.  AZA successfully settled the case on favorable terms for its clients less than two months before trial.
  • In 2014, Mr. Zavitsanos and partner Elizabeth Fletcher won a take-nothing verdict from a Harris County jury for a Houston businesswoman, defeating multi-million dollar claims that she had received money from allegedly fraudulent commercial property sales.
  • In 2013, Mr. Zavitsanos represented Plains All American Pipeline in a pipeline dispute with BP Oil Pipeline Company in which BP had obtained summary judgment against Plains before AZA got involved in the case.  With colleague Lizzie Fletcher, Mr. Zavitsanos petitioned for reconsideration, got the summary judgment reversed, and won summary judgment for Plains, obtaining substantial attorneys’ fees for Plains for defending the lawsuit.
  • In 2013, Mr. Zavitsanos prevailed for a client with $115 million at stake in an energy sector lawsuit filed by more than 100 oil and gas producers. He represented Plains All American Pipeline after SemCrude, a major midstream oil and gas company, filed for bankruptcy in 2008 without paying the oil and gas producers who sold to SemCrude in the preceding months. AZA participated in over 225 depositions in the case and convinced a key opponent to drop out just before a summary judgment hearing.
  • In 2012, Mr. Zavitsanos with partner Todd Mensing and firm attorneys Elizabeth Pannill Fletcher and Jane Robinson, garnered a defense win for Mistras Group Inc. in federal court by not only beating a competing company that sought $8 million in damages and was awarded nothing. But by also getting the trademark at issue dissolved. AZA lawyers won over both the judge and jury. It was the judge who granted Mistras the win on the $8 million trademark claim and the jury that found the mark was generic or descriptive. In 2011, Mr. Zavitsanos and Elizabeth Pannill Fletcher secured a defense verdict for Mistras Group Inc. following a trade secret case that included an award of $750,000 in attorneys’ fees. Mistras, a New Jersey-based company that assesses the safety of large corporate and infrastructure components such as refineries and bridges, was wrongly accused by Texas-based Sentinel Integrity Solutions of interfering with an employment agreement and obtaining confidential information when it hired a former Sentinel employee. According to Texas Lawyer’s verdict list, this was the fourth largest defense win in Texas in 2011.
  • In 2011, Mr. Zavitsanos, along with Todd Mensing of the Firm, represented a man defamed by The Fort Bend Star and a reporter at the paper and won both in an interlocutory appeal and a jury verdict. In this case, the Houston Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the trial court’s denial of the Fort Bend Star’s Motion for Summary Judgment and rejected the Star’s argument that Texas should expand the “limited purpose public figure” doctrine. The jury later returned a remarkable $1.1 million verdict for the client over an article that made false allegations about his behavior and falsely claimed his father, a law enforcement officer, covered for him.
  • In 2008, Mr. Zavitsanos was retained in a $40 million “bet the company” case involving claims brought against A&B Valve and Supply, an oilfield supply company by National Oil Well Varco. He was hired three months prior to the scheduled trial date. Shortly before Zavitsanos was hired, the trial court had entered a temporary injunction prohibiting A&B from doing business with a substantial number of its customers. This resulted in millions of dollars in losses. Within thirty days of being hired, Zavitsanos successfully obtained a writ of mandamus against the trial court and reversed the temporary injunction. They then proceeded to trial in March 2008. After five weeks of evidence, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Zavitsanos’ client on all claims. This case received national and international attention and was featured in the National Law Journal, the Texas Lawyer, and over 25 newspapers around the world.
  • In 2007, Mr. Zavitsanos was the lead trial counsel in a three-week trial involving a $150 million contractual dispute about a jointly owed offshore gas pipeline. Following a successful decision in favor of the Firm’s client, the plaintiff immediately launched settlement discussion and resolved the dispute by paying a substantial amount to Zavitsanos’ client in exchange for the acquisition of certain assets.
  • In 2005, Mr. Zavitsanos was one of the lead attorneys representing over 63 plaintiffs in an accounting malpractice jury trial involving over $30 million in actual damages. The case was covered by the national media extensively. Shortly after trial began, the defendant settled for a confidential amount.
  • Mr. Zavitsanos was statewide counsel for Mercedes-Benz USA for more than 25 years starting in 1990. During this time, Mr. Zavitsanos tried a number of cases to verdict and never lost a jury trial defending Mercedes-Benz.
  • In 2003, Mr. Zavitsanos represented a national pharmacy company as a plaintiff in a significant breach of contract case. Following the completion of the evidence, the defendant agreed to settle the case for 95% of the damages and attorney’s fees incurred by Mr. Zavitsanos’ client.
  • In 2002, Mr. Zavitsanos was the lead lawyer for the defense in an $8 million business tort case. The trial lasted over one month and included over 1,000 trial exhibits. Because of the voluminous number of documents and witnesses, Mr. Zavitsanos and his trial team utilized the latest technology to present the case to the jury. The trial was completely “paperless.” Immediately prior to trial, Mr. Zavitsanos’ client offered nearly $1 million to settle the case, which the plaintiff company rejected. Following the month- long trial, the jury found in favor of his client on every single claim.
  • In 2001, Mr. Zavitsanos obtained a seven-figure jury verdict against a publicly traded company in a fraud claim brought by the company’s former director of Mergers and Acquisitions.
  • In 1997, Mr. Zavitsanos defended a Fortune 100 chemical company in a multimillion-dollar toxic exposure case. The plaintiff claimed that he was completely disabled due to being exposed to toxic substances. The plaintiff’s “bottom line” settlement demand was over $4,000,000. The case went to trial, and following the cross-examination of the plaintiff by Mr. Zavitsanos, the case settled for a small fraction of the plaintiff’s final demand and the amount that Mr. Zavitsanos had offered more than 18 months previously.
  • In 1996, Mr. Zavitsanos was the lead trial lawyer on behalf of seven police officers who filed suit alleging that they were terminated because of their political expression. The case was followed nationally by a number of police organizations and, following a successful appeal; it is now considered one of the leading decisions in this area of the law. Brady v. Fort Bend County, 145 F.3d 691 (5th Cir. 1998).
  • In 1995, Mr. Zavitsanos represented an oil and gas limited partnership that was a defendant in a suit involving allegations of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. The plaintiff sought $8 million in damages against Mr. Zavitsanos’ client and several other defendants. Following a lengthy jury trial, Mr. Zavitsanos’ client was exonerated on all counts, even though the other defendants were found liable.

EDUCATION

  • Loyola University of Chicago (B.S., magna cum laude, 1984)
  • University of Michigan (J.D., 1987)

HONORS & DISTINCTIONS

  • Board Certified, Civil Trial Advocacy Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy
  • Board Certified, Civil Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization
  • Leader in Texas General Commercial Litigation in the 2014- 2021 editions of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business
  • Chambers USA Texas Trial Lawyers Spotlight honor 2021
  • Band 1 Chambers Trial Law
  • The Best Lawyers in America, 2006-2022
  • National Elite Trial Law Firm 2021 Award Winner
  • 2019  Nicholas J. Bouras Award for Extraordinary Archon Stewardship presented by the National Council of the Order of Saint Andrew
  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America for 2021, 2022, and 2023 with a focus on commercial litigation, intellectual property, and securities.
  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, 2022 and 2023
  • National Law Journal’s Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Trailblazer, 2022.
  • One of only 10 lawyers named nationally by Law360 as a Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar, 2022.
  • 2023 Top 10 Trailblazing Commercial Litigation Lawyers in Houston named by Business Today
  • Litigation Counsel of America Senior Fellow including Trial Law Institute, Diversity Law Institute and Order of Justitia
  • Houston Bar Association Speakers Bureau Committee for the 2020-2021
  • Benchmark Litigation Star in 2016-2022
  • Texas Super Lawyers, 2003-2023
  • Top 100 Texas Lawyers, 2011-2023
  • Top 100 Houston Super Lawyers, 2007-2023
  • Top 100 Regional Business Litigators, 2007-2016
  • Who’s Who in American Law
  • Million Dollar Advocate Forum
  • Outstanding Lawyers of America, 2003 – present
  • Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
  • Texas Bar Foundation Fellow
  • Who’s Who in Energy, 2011-2014
  • College of the State Bar of Texas, 2005
  • Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell – Highest Possible Rating in Both Legal Ability and Ethical Standards

REPORTED CASES

  • In re M-I L.L.C., 59 Tex. Sup. J. 888 (Tex. 2016)
  • Gessner Eng’g, LLC v. St. Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Monastery, Inc., 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 12473 (Tex. App. Houston [1st Dist] 2016)
  • Finserv Cas. Corp. v. Transamerica Life Ins. Co., 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 11416 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.] 2016)
  • In re Crestline Direct Fin., L.P., 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 10712 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2016)
  • ConocoPhillips Co. v. Noble Energy, Inc., 462 S.W.3d 255 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2016)
  • BP Oil Pipeline Co. v. Plains Pipeline, L.P., 472 S.W.3d 296 (Tex. App.  Houston [1st Dist.] 2015)
  • Gudger v. CITGO Petroleum Corp., 574 Fed. Appx. 493 (5th Cir 2014)
  • Klentzman v. Brady, 456 S.W.3d 239 (Tex. App.  Houston [1st Dist.] 2014)
  • In re M-I L.L.C., 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 12024 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2014)
  • Rapid Settlements, Ltd. v. Settlement Funding, LLC, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 9320 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2014)
  • In re Sugarland Anesthesia PLLC, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 14968 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2013)
  • Sentinel Integrity Solutions, Inc. v. Mistras Group, Inc., 414 S.W.3d 911 (Tex. App. Houston [1st Dist.] 2013)
  • Best Auto v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 4844 (Tex. App. Dallas [5th Dist.] 2013)
  • In re Citgo Petro. Corp., 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 1899 (Tex. App. Waco [10th Dist.] 2013)
  • Opuiyo v. Houston Auto M. Imps., Ltd., 2011 Tex. App. LEXIS 58 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2011)
  • 1993 GF P’ship v. Simmons & Co. Int’l, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 8903 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2010)
  • Macy v. Waste Mgmt., 294 S.W.3d 638 (Tex. App. Houston [1st Dist.] 2009)
  • Klentzman v. Brady, 2009 WL 5174369 (Tex. App. Houston [1st Dist.], December 31, 2009).
  • Amschwand v. Spherion Corp 505 F.3d 342 (5th Cir 2008) cert. denied, 128 S. Ct. 1493 (2008)
  • Hollenbeck v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 2806 (Tex. App. Austin [3rd Dist.] 2008)
  • Devally v. Powell Watson Motors, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 9633 (Tex. App. San Antonio [4thDist.] 2007)
  • Innovative Truck Storage, Inc. v. Airshield Corp., 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 4883 (Tex. App. Corpus Christi [13thsDist.] 2007)
  • Nat’l Oilwell, L.P. v. Sladic, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 4583 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2006)
  • In re Bill Heard Chevrolet, Ltd., 2005 Tex. App. LEXIS 8838 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2005)
  • Recognition Communication, Inc. v. American Automobile Ass’n., 154 S.W.3d 878 (Tex. App. – Dallas 2005)
  • In re: KPMG, 2005 WL 66475 (Tex. App.  Houston [14th Dist.] 2005)
  • Comsys Information Technology Svc. Inc. v. Twin City Fire Ins. Co., 130 S.W.3d 181 (Tex. App.  Houston [14th Dist.] 2003)
  • Livesay v. Wellogix, Inc., 2003 WL 139730 (Tex. App.  Houston [1st Dist.] 2003)
  • Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. v. Willis, 296 F.3d 336 (5th Cir 2002)
  • In re: Wheat, 2002 WL 31320095 (Tex. App. Houston [1st Dist.] 2002)
  • Mota v. Univ. of Tex. Houston Health Sci. Ctr., 261 F.3d 512 (5th Cir 2001)
  • Pratt v. City of Houston, F.3d 601(5th Cir 2001)
  • Jones v. Star Motor Cars, 45 S.W.3d 350 (Tex. App.  Houston [1st Dist.] 2001, no pet.)
  • Texas Dept. of Public Safety v. Randle, 31 S.W.3d 786 (Tex. App.  Houston [1st Dist.] 2001, no pet.)
  • Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Haney, 987 S.W.2d 236 (Tex. App.  Houston [14th Dist] 1999, pet. denied)
  • Brady v. Fort Bend County, 145 F.3d 691 (5th Cir. 1998)
  • LaBella v. Mercedes-Benz of North America, 942 S.W.2d 127 (Tex. App.  Amarillo, 1997, writ denied)
  • Thompson v. City of Galveston, 979 F.Supp. 504 (S.D. Tex. 1997)
  • Redwine v. AAA Life Ins. Co., 852 S.W.2d 10 (Tex. App.  Dallas 1993, no writ)
  • Evans v. United Air Lines, 986 F.2d 942 (5th Cir. 1993)
  • Gulf Coast Inv. Corp. v. NASA 1 Business Center, 754 S.W.2d 152 (Tex. 1988)
  • In re Seiscom Delta, Inc., 857 F.2d 279 (5th Cir. 1988)

PUBLICATIONS, PAPERS AND CLE PRESENTATIONS

Mr. Zavitsanos’ authorship and presentations at seminars include:

  • Primary author of O’Connor’s Texas Rules * Civil Trials 2018-2023
  • “Voir Dire and Preserving Error,” Houston Bar Association Civil/Appellate Bench Bar Conference, April 2023
  • “The Art of Business Litigation: A Conversation (Business & Ethics) & CLE,” March 2023
  • “How to Screw Up Your Voir Dire,” Houston Bar Association Litigation Section CLE, October 2022
  • “How to Command a Room: Impactful Presentations to Juries and Clients,” Houston Bar Association seminar, February 2022
  • “Strategies from Trial Titans: Trying a Case to the Modern Jury of the 2020s,” Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists, September 2021
  • “Civil Case Update,” Texas Center for the Judiciary Spring Regional Conference, May 2021
  • “Live Jury Trials in the Time of Covid: Lessons from the Front Lines,” Litigation Counsel of America webinar, November 2020
  • “How the Pandemic is Impacting the Future of Jury Trials in Texas,” Texas Lawbook webinar, Houston, October 2020
  • “The Art of Business Litigation: A Conversation,” ALM’s Texas Business Litigation CLE presentation, Houston, March 2020
  • Contributing author of Texas Business Litigation 2019, published by Texas Lawyer
  • “The Art of Business Litigation,” University of Houston Law Center CLE, Houston, November 2019
  • “Opening Statements in David vs. Goliath,” America Bar Association, Litigation Section, New York City, May 2019
  • “Tactical Considerations in Business Trials,” Houston Bar Association, Litigation Section, Houston, April 2019
  • “Mining for Silver: Discovery Update,” 2019 HBA Civil/Appellate Bench Bar Conference, Houston, April 2019
  • “Voir Dire Panel Perspective – Effective Voir Dire and Opening,” Texas Bar CLE, Houston, October 2017
  • “Lies in Business and Under Oath” CLE course in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, December 2016
  • “Punitive Damages in Commercial Litigation: Pursuing and Defending Claims – Leveraging Pretrial Motions, Discovery and Trial Strategies, Navigating Constitutional Restraints” webinar, Strafford Publications Inc., April 2014
  • “Witness Credibility in Trial and Depositions,” Texas Lawyer’s In-House Counsel Summit, April 2014, November 2013,  May 2012
  • “Witness Credibility at Depositions and Trial – Do’s and Don’ts,” State Bar of Texas – Texas Minority Counsel Program, 18th Annual Conference, September 2010
  • “Lessons Learned from Trying a Breach of Fiduciary Case,” Houston Bar Association, Litigation Section, December 2008
  • “Cross Examination,” University of Houston Law Foundation, Civil Litigation, February 2008
  • Credibility and Impeachment – University of Houston Law Foundation; Advanced Evidence and Discovery, November 2007
  • Witness Credibility – How To Prepare, Achieve, And Destroy It; Lorman Education Services, June 2006
  • Preparing Your Witness for Deposition and Trial, Houston Bar Association, March 2006
  • Types of Claims and Their Values, Houston Bar Association, September 2005
  • Preparing Your Witness for Deposition and Trial, Houston Bar Association, November 2004
  • Witness Credibility – How To Prepare, Achieve, And Destroy It, Lorman Education Services, September 2004
  • Credibility and Impeachment: Fundamentals of Direct and Cross- Examination, University of Houston Law Foundation – How to Offer and Exclude Evidence, September 2002
  • Preparing Your Witness for Deposition and Trial, University of Houston Law Foundation, June 2002
  • Punitive Damages – Phase II, University of Houston Law Center – Litigation and Trial Tactics, December 2000
  • Asserting, Contesting and Preserving Privileges Under the New Rules, University of Houston Law Foundation – Advanced Civil Discovery Under the New Rules, June 2000

ADMISSIONS

  • State Bar of Texas
  • US District Court, Eastern District of Texas
  • US District Court, Northern District of Texas
  • US District Court, Southern District of Texas
  • US District Court, Western District of Texas
  • 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • General and Trial Bar of the Northern District of Illinois

IN THE NEWS

Jury Refuses to Find Against Odessa Pumps; Awards It $2.4 Million

Doctor Group Wins $153 Million Against Insurer United Healthcare

Ten AZA Lawyers Make 2023 Super Lawyers List; Two are Top in Texas 

Jury Awards AZA Client Mid Main $32.5 Million in Midtown Construction Case

AZA Co-Founders Honored as Best in Texas by Business Today 

Twenty-Six AZA Lawyers Honored as Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch

Texas Jury returns nearly $9M verdict against Toby Eoff and others involved in conspiracy against energy giant

Five AZA Partners Named Leading Litigators in America

LAWDRAGON 500 LEADING LITIGATORS IN AMERICA

Ten AZA Lawyers Ranked among US Best for Commercial, Intellectual Property, Appellate and Personal Injury Litigation for 2023

AZA Represents Ben & Jerry’s in International Lawsuit Against British-based Parent Company

John Zavitsanos Named to Lawdragon’s 500 Top Plaintiff Financial Lawyers List 

AZA Wins for Healthcare Clients Earn Top Verdict Rankings in Texas, US

AZA Selected as a Finalist for National Elite Trial Law Firm 2022  

AZA’s John Zavitsanos Named National Law Journal’s Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Trailblazer

Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: AZA Law’s John Zavitsanos

Zavitsanos One of Law360’s 10 National ‘Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar’ for Groundbreaking Healthcare Jury Trial Wins

John Zavitsanos Interviewed on CNBC About Why Trial Lawyers Need to Work in Person  

AZA Victorious in $62 Million Nationally Watched TeamHealth Trial Against Insurance Giant United Healthcare 

AZA and Three Name Partners Earn Honors in Benchmark Litigation’s 2022 Guide 

Ten AZA Lawyers Make Super Lawyers List; Four Rank among Top 100 

Three AZA Partners Make Lawdragon’s 500 Top Plaintiff Financial Lawyers List 

Twelve AZA Lawyers Ranked among US Best for Commercial, Intellectual Property, Personal Injury Litigation and Appellate Law for 2022 

AZA’s John Zavitsanos Interviewed on NPR About Office Opening During the Pandemic

AZA Selected as a National Elite Trial Law Firm 2021 Award Winner  

AZA’s 2020 Success Featured in New York Times Essay

Houston Jury Sends U.S. Insurance Companies a Strong Message on Behalf of Emergency Room Doctors 

AZA Earns Texas Super Lawyers Honors; Three Make Top 100 Lists 

TeamHealth ER Doctors’ Group Wins $9.4 Million Arkansas Jury Verdict for Underpayment by Centene Corporation 

AZA Trial Lawyers Among Nation’s Best for Commercial, Intellectual Property Litigation and Appellate Law for 2021 

For Seventh Year, Prestigious Chambers USA Ranks AZA Among Top Texas Commercial Litigation Firms 

John Zavitsanos Earns Recertification by the National Board of Trial Advocacy 

AZA Beats the Odds for Energy Company in Tragic Oklahoma Explosion  

AZA Gets Turkey Leg Hut Restaurant Lawsuit Dissolved in Two Weeks 

AZA, Three Firm Partners Honored by Benchmark Litigation Fifth Year in a Row

Texas Super Lawyers Again Honors Seven AZA Lawyers; Three Are Top 100

Barratry Suit Over Deepwater Horizon Spill Victims Dismissed

Prestigious Chambers USA Ranks AZA Among Top Texas Commercial Litigation Firms Sixth Year In A Row

AZA’s $20M Take-Nothing Verdict for National Oilwell Varco Stands on Appeal

AZA Wins Rare $2 Million Attorneys’ Fees Award for Defendants

Dr. Steven Hotze and Two Brothers Win Take-Nothing Verdict in Family Business Dispute

AZA Lawyers Named Among Nation’s Best for Commercial, Patent Litigation and Appellate Law

National Oilwell Varco Wins $12 Million After Discovering Ex-Employees’ Fraud

AZA Partner John Zavitsanos Organizes Summit on Religious Freedom

AZA Scores One of the Nation’s Top 100 Verdicts of 2017

Former NOV Employee Begins Serving Prison Term for Felony Theft

AZA Obtains Judgment for Apache Corp. in Fraud Suit

US Supreme Court Won’t Overturn NOV Win in $120M Discrimination Suit

AZA Lawyers Zavitsanos, Robinson to Co-Author 2018 Issue of Essential Trial Guide O’Connor’s Texas Rules * Civil Trials

Prime Natural Resources Wins $41.6 Million in Wellsure Insurance Dispute

WSJ: Texas Union Fights to Stay in Bankruptcy after Losing Defamation Case

AZA Lawyer Zavitsanos Tells Newspaper How Social Media Aids in Jury Selection

Houston Janitorial Service Wins $7.8 Million from Union Over Disparagement

AZA Wins Sanctions Order Against Wells Fargo in Securities Fraud Lawsuit

Bankruptcy Trustee Dismisses Case After Expert Fails On Cross Examination

AZA Partner John Zavitsanos Discusses Trial Techniques in Law360 Article

The results of some of Mr. Zavitsanos’ cases
  • In 2022, Mr. Zavitsanos tried and won a multimillion dollar 3 week jury trial involving breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty on behalf of a national energy company.
  • In 2021, Mr. Zavitsanos won a $62.65 million verdict from a Nevada jury in a nationally watched case for emergency room physician group clients who were underpaid by United Healthcare, the largest insurer in the nation. The jury in this seven-week trial unanimously found malice, oppression, and fraud in the underpayment of the doctors. This verdict against a cluster of United Healthcare affiliates will serve as a bellwether for more than two dozen similar cases around the nation against various insurers.
  • In 2021, Mr. Zavitsanos successfully represented emergency room physicians in obtaining a $19.1 million Houston jury verdict against a large insurance company in the first case in the nation to litigate emergency room physicians’ out-of-network pay from private insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act. 
  • In 2021, Mr. Zavitsanos successfully represented the estate of a red snapper fisherman who had been cheated out of $1 million. We obtained $5.1 million for his heirs just when the jurors started to deliberate the four weeks of testimony they had heard. The pre-trial offer was $0.
  • In 2020, Mr. Zavitsanos successfully represented emergency room doctors in obtaining a $9.4 million jury verdict against an Arkansas insurance company in a breach-of-contract case in which the insurance company grossly underpaid emergency room doctors. AZA was hired six days before trial. AZA will be representing more emergency room doctors’ groups against insurance companies across the country that have been systematically stripping doctors of their pay. See the Texas Lawbook story on this win Six Days Notice, Six Witnesses, Six Jurors, 150 ER Doctors, Two Ticked Off In-House Counsel and a $9.4M Verdict (subscription required). It is in the 2020 Top 100 Verdicts as calculated by Verdict Search. It was a 2020 Top 10 Verdict nationally.
  • Won important ruling for an emergency room doctors’ group trying to get fair pay from insurance company. The Federal Court applied the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association and found that the Texas Insurance Code includes an implied private right of action. The decision advances the law in favor of AZA’s doctors’ group clients demanding fair pay for their work.
  • In 2020, Mr. Zavitsanos successfully represented National Oilwell Varco (NOV) in an Oklahoma jury trial over a tragic 2018 oil rig explosion that killed five workers. The devastating accident was the industry’s deadliest since the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The lawsuit was brought by two of the surviving families. After three weeks of grisly testimony, the jury found NOV only a small percentage responsible and found the company should pay far less than even the NOV pre-trial settlement offer. The jury awarded only one percent of the $200 million the plaintiffs’ lawyers asked from the jury. The jury found other companies 90 percent responsible for the accident.
  • In 2020 Mr. Zavitsanos was able to win a total dismissal of a $40 million lawsuit filed against his LNG plant builder client that was sued by a major international energy company over claims an investment was really a loan. Mr. Zavitsanos got the case dismissed on the eve of trial and his client never paid a penny to the giant energy company.
  • In 2018, Mr. Zavitsanos successfully represented Dr. Steven Hotze, part owner of a large energy-sector family business, in a complicated dispute involving allegations of fraud, securities violations, and breaching of fiduciary duties with potential costs of up to $30 million. After a five-week trial and a 65-page jury charge with 45 questions, the jury came back with a total defense victory for Mr. Zavitsanos’ client. The case was named among the largest Texas courtroom wins in 2018 by the Houston Chronicle in “The Biggest Courtroom Wins of 2018″ (subscription required) and Texas Lawbook in  “The Top Texas Litigation Stories of 2018” (subscription required).
  • In 2017, Mr. Zavitsanos successfully tried a breach of contract and bad faith insurance case for client Prime Natural Resources, which owned an offshore oil well damaged in Hurricane Rita. After six weeks in trial, AZA obtained a $41.6 million jury verdict against certain underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, that included $27.3 million in punitive damages and $10.9 million for bad faith. The case was one of the top 100 2017 verdicts in the nation, according to the National Law Journal.
  • In 2016, Professional Janitorial Services of Houston hired Mr. Zavitsanos to end a nearly 10-year-old case against a union that lied about the cleaning business and cost the company to lose business. He stopped the stalling, got it to trial within a month, and obtained a judgment of almost $8 million. This was the first case in the country to successfully go through a full trial that called into question the heavy handed tactics of SEIU, one of the three largest unions in the U.S.
  • In 2016, Mr. Zavitsanos represented a client sued by the trustee for a bankrupt company who decided to drop his lawsuit against AZA’s client after watching his expert witness cross-examined by Mr. Zavitsanos. The legal dispute that never got to the jury, even though it was three weeks into the trial, involved a series of shopping centers and other properties worth more than $30 million, and the question was whether company assets were divested improperly by AZA’s client.
  • In 2015, National Oilwell Varco was sued for $120 million by eight former employees claiming they were treated differently because of their race. Mr. Zavitsanos was hired after his client offered a substantial settlement that was refused. Instead, he got a take-nothing verdict for NOV in this hard-fought case in which plaintiffs were represented by high-profile civil rights lawyer Angela M. Alioto of San Francisco’s Law Offices of Mayor Joseph L. Alioto and Angela Alioto.
  • In 2014, Enterprise Products Operating LLC hired Mr. Zavitsanos in a $45 million pipeline case when it became clear this case was going to trial. He and AZA replaced a BigLaw firm. He immediately shifted the pre-trial strategy to focus on destroying the defenses arising out of the failed construction of underground pipelines designed to carry gasoline and other products.  AZA successfully settled the case on favorable terms for its clients less than two months before trial.
  • In 2014, Mr. Zavitsanos and partner Elizabeth Fletcher won a take-nothing verdict from a Harris County jury for a Houston businesswoman, defeating multi-million dollar claims that she had received money from allegedly fraudulent commercial property sales.
  • In 2013, Mr. Zavitsanos represented Plains All American Pipeline in a pipeline dispute with BP Oil Pipeline Company in which BP had obtained summary judgment against Plains before AZA got involved in the case.  With colleague Lizzie Fletcher, Mr. Zavitsanos petitioned for reconsideration, got the summary judgment reversed, and won summary judgment for Plains, obtaining substantial attorneys’ fees for Plains for defending the lawsuit.
  • In 2013, Mr. Zavitsanos prevailed for a client with $115 million at stake in an energy sector lawsuit filed by more than 100 oil and gas producers. He represented Plains All American Pipeline after SemCrude, a major midstream oil and gas company, filed for bankruptcy in 2008 without paying the oil and gas producers who sold to SemCrude in the preceding months. AZA participated in over 225 depositions in the case and convinced a key opponent to drop out just before a summary judgment hearing.
  • In 2012, Mr. Zavitsanos with partner Todd Mensing and firm attorneys Elizabeth Pannill Fletcher and Jane Robinson, garnered a defense win for Mistras Group Inc. in federal court by not only beating a competing company that sought $8 million in damages and was awarded nothing. But by also getting the trademark at issue dissolved. AZA lawyers won over both the judge and jury. It was the judge who granted Mistras the win on the $8 million trademark claim and the jury that found the mark was generic or descriptive. In 2011, Mr. Zavitsanos and Elizabeth Pannill Fletcher secured a defense verdict for Mistras Group Inc. following a trade secret case that included an award of $750,000 in attorneys’ fees. Mistras, a New Jersey-based company that assesses the safety of large corporate and infrastructure components such as refineries and bridges, was wrongly accused by Texas-based Sentinel Integrity Solutions of interfering with an employment agreement and obtaining confidential information when it hired a former Sentinel employee. According to Texas Lawyer’s verdict list, this was the fourth largest defense win in Texas in 2011.
  • In 2011, Mr. Zavitsanos, along with Todd Mensing of the Firm, represented a man defamed by The Fort Bend Star and a reporter at the paper and won both in an interlocutory appeal and a jury verdict. In this case, the Houston Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the trial court’s denial of the Fort Bend Star’s Motion for Summary Judgment and rejected the Star’s argument that Texas should expand the “limited purpose public figure” doctrine. The jury later returned a remarkable $1.1 million verdict for the client over an article that made false allegations about his behavior and falsely claimed his father, a law enforcement officer, covered for him.
  • In 2008, Mr. Zavitsanos was retained in a $40 million “bet the company” case involving claims brought against A&B Valve and Supply, an oilfield supply company by National Oil Well Varco. He was hired three months prior to the scheduled trial date. Shortly before Zavitsanos was hired, the trial court had entered a temporary injunction prohibiting A&B from doing business with a substantial number of its customers. This resulted in millions of dollars in losses. Within thirty days of being hired, Zavitsanos successfully obtained a writ of mandamus against the trial court and reversed the temporary injunction. They then proceeded to trial in March 2008. After five weeks of evidence, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Zavitsanos’ client on all claims. This case received national and international attention and was featured in the National Law Journal, the Texas Lawyer, and over 25 newspapers around the world.
  • In 2007, Mr. Zavitsanos was the lead trial counsel in a three-week trial involving a $150 million contractual dispute about a jointly owed offshore gas pipeline. Following a successful decision in favor of the Firm’s client, the plaintiff immediately launched settlement discussion and resolved the dispute by paying a substantial amount to Zavitsanos’ client in exchange for the acquisition of certain assets.
  • In 2005, Mr. Zavitsanos was one of the lead attorneys representing over 63 plaintiffs in an accounting malpractice jury trial involving over $30 million in actual damages. The case was covered by the national media extensively. Shortly after trial began, the defendant settled for a confidential amount.
  • Mr. Zavitsanos was statewide counsel for Mercedes-Benz USA for more than 25 years starting in 1990. During this time, Mr. Zavitsanos tried a number of cases to verdict and never lost a jury trial defending Mercedes-Benz.
  • In 2003, Mr. Zavitsanos represented a national pharmacy company as a plaintiff in a significant breach of contract case. Following the completion of the evidence, the defendant agreed to settle the case for 95% of the damages and attorney’s fees incurred by Mr. Zavitsanos’ client.
  • In 2002, Mr. Zavitsanos was the lead lawyer for the defense in an $8 million business tort case. The trial lasted over one month and included over 1,000 trial exhibits. Because of the voluminous number of documents and witnesses, Mr. Zavitsanos and his trial team utilized the latest technology to present the case to the jury. The trial was completely “paperless.” Immediately prior to trial, Mr. Zavitsanos’ client offered nearly $1 million to settle the case, which the plaintiff company rejected. Following the month- long trial, the jury found in favor of his client on every single claim.
  • In 2001, Mr. Zavitsanos obtained a seven-figure jury verdict against a publicly traded company in a fraud claim brought by the company’s former director of Mergers and Acquisitions.
  • In 1997, Mr. Zavitsanos defended a Fortune 100 chemical company in a multimillion-dollar toxic exposure case. The plaintiff claimed that he was completely disabled due to being exposed to toxic substances. The plaintiff’s “bottom line” settlement demand was over $4,000,000. The case went to trial, and following the cross-examination of the plaintiff by Mr. Zavitsanos, the case settled for a small fraction of the plaintiff’s final demand and the amount that Mr. Zavitsanos had offered more than 18 months previously.
  • In 1996, Mr. Zavitsanos was the lead trial lawyer on behalf of seven police officers who filed suit alleging that they were terminated because of their political expression. The case was followed nationally by a number of police organizations and, following a successful appeal; it is now considered one of the leading decisions in this area of the law. Brady v. Fort Bend County, 145 F.3d 691 (5th Cir. 1998).
  • In 1995, Mr. Zavitsanos represented an oil and gas limited partnership that was a defendant in a suit involving allegations of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. The plaintiff sought $8 million in damages against Mr. Zavitsanos’ client and several other defendants. Following a lengthy jury trial, Mr. Zavitsanos’ client was exonerated on all counts, even though the other defendants were found liable.
EDUCATION
  • Loyola University of Chicago (B.S., magna cum laude, 1984)
  • University of Michigan (J.D., 1987)
HONORS & DISTINCTIONS
  • Board Certified, Civil Trial Advocacy Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy
  • Board Certified, Civil Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization
  • Leader in Texas General Commercial Litigation in the 2014- 2021 editions of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business
  • Chambers USA Texas Trial Lawyers Spotlight honor 2021
  • Band 1 Chambers Trial Law
  • The Best Lawyers in America, 2006-2022
  • National Elite Trial Law Firm 2021 Award Winner
  • 2019  Nicholas J. Bouras Award for Extraordinary Archon Stewardship presented by the National Council of the Order of Saint Andrew
  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America for 2021, 2022, and 2023 with a focus on commercial litigation, intellectual property, and securities.
  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, 2022 and 2023
  • National Law Journal’s Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Trailblazer, 2022.
  • One of only 10 lawyers named nationally by Law360 as a Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar, 2022.
  • 2023 Top 10 Trailblazing Commercial Litigation Lawyers in Houston named by Business Today
  • Litigation Counsel of America Senior Fellow including Trial Law Institute, Diversity Law Institute and Order of Justitia
  • Houston Bar Association Speakers Bureau Committee for the 2020-2021
  • Benchmark Litigation Star in 2016-2022
  • Texas Super Lawyers, 2003-2023
  • Top 100 Texas Lawyers, 2011-2023
  • Top 100 Houston Super Lawyers, 2007-2023
  • Top 100 Regional Business Litigators, 2007-2016
  • Who’s Who in American Law
  • Million Dollar Advocate Forum
  • Outstanding Lawyers of America, 2003 – present
  • Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
  • Texas Bar Foundation Fellow
  • Who’s Who in Energy, 2011-2014
  • College of the State Bar of Texas, 2005
  • Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell – Highest Possible Rating in Both Legal Ability and Ethical Standards
REPORTED CASES
  • In re M-I L.L.C., 59 Tex. Sup. J. 888 (Tex. 2016)
  • Gessner Eng’g, LLC v. St. Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Monastery, Inc., 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 12473 (Tex. App. Houston [1st Dist] 2016)
  • Finserv Cas. Corp. v. Transamerica Life Ins. Co., 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 11416 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.] 2016)
  • In re Crestline Direct Fin., L.P., 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 10712 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2016)
  • ConocoPhillips Co. v. Noble Energy, Inc., 462 S.W.3d 255 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2016)
  • BP Oil Pipeline Co. v. Plains Pipeline, L.P., 472 S.W.3d 296 (Tex. App.  Houston [1st Dist.] 2015)
  • Gudger v. CITGO Petroleum Corp., 574 Fed. Appx. 493 (5th Cir 2014)
  • Klentzman v. Brady, 456 S.W.3d 239 (Tex. App.  Houston [1st Dist.] 2014)
  • In re M-I L.L.C., 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 12024 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2014)
  • Rapid Settlements, Ltd. v. Settlement Funding, LLC, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 9320 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2014)
  • In re Sugarland Anesthesia PLLC, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 14968 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2013)
  • Sentinel Integrity Solutions, Inc. v. Mistras Group, Inc., 414 S.W.3d 911 (Tex. App. Houston [1st Dist.] 2013)
  • Best Auto v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 4844 (Tex. App. Dallas [5th Dist.] 2013)
  • In re Citgo Petro. Corp., 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 1899 (Tex. App. Waco [10th Dist.] 2013)
  • Opuiyo v. Houston Auto M. Imps., Ltd., 2011 Tex. App. LEXIS 58 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2011)
  • 1993 GF P’ship v. Simmons & Co. Int’l, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 8903 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2010)
  • Macy v. Waste Mgmt., 294 S.W.3d 638 (Tex. App. Houston [1st Dist.] 2009)
  • Klentzman v. Brady, 2009 WL 5174369 (Tex. App. Houston [1st Dist.], December 31, 2009).
  • Amschwand v. Spherion Corp 505 F.3d 342 (5th Cir 2008) cert. denied, 128 S. Ct. 1493 (2008)
  • Hollenbeck v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 2806 (Tex. App. Austin [3rd Dist.] 2008)
  • Devally v. Powell Watson Motors, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 9633 (Tex. App. San Antonio [4thDist.] 2007)
  • Innovative Truck Storage, Inc. v. Airshield Corp., 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 4883 (Tex. App. Corpus Christi [13thsDist.] 2007)
  • Nat’l Oilwell, L.P. v. Sladic, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 4583 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2006)
  • In re Bill Heard Chevrolet, Ltd., 2005 Tex. App. LEXIS 8838 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2005)
  • Recognition Communication, Inc. v. American Automobile Ass’n., 154 S.W.3d 878 (Tex. App. – Dallas 2005)
  • In re: KPMG, 2005 WL 66475 (Tex. App.  Houston [14th Dist.] 2005)
  • Comsys Information Technology Svc. Inc. v. Twin City Fire Ins. Co., 130 S.W.3d 181 (Tex. App.  Houston [14th Dist.] 2003)
  • Livesay v. Wellogix, Inc., 2003 WL 139730 (Tex. App.  Houston [1st Dist.] 2003)
  • Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. v. Willis, 296 F.3d 336 (5th Cir 2002)
  • In re: Wheat, 2002 WL 31320095 (Tex. App. Houston [1st Dist.] 2002)
  • Mota v. Univ. of Tex. Houston Health Sci. Ctr., 261 F.3d 512 (5th Cir 2001)
  • Pratt v. City of Houston, F.3d 601(5th Cir 2001)
  • Jones v. Star Motor Cars, 45 S.W.3d 350 (Tex. App.  Houston [1st Dist.] 2001, no pet.)
  • Texas Dept. of Public Safety v. Randle, 31 S.W.3d 786 (Tex. App.  Houston [1st Dist.] 2001, no pet.)
  • Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Haney, 987 S.W.2d 236 (Tex. App.  Houston [14th Dist] 1999, pet. denied)
  • Brady v. Fort Bend County, 145 F.3d 691 (5th Cir. 1998)
  • LaBella v. Mercedes-Benz of North America, 942 S.W.2d 127 (Tex. App.  Amarillo, 1997, writ denied)
  • Thompson v. City of Galveston, 979 F.Supp. 504 (S.D. Tex. 1997)
  • Redwine v. AAA Life Ins. Co., 852 S.W.2d 10 (Tex. App.  Dallas 1993, no writ)
  • Evans v. United Air Lines, 986 F.2d 942 (5th Cir. 1993)
  • Gulf Coast Inv. Corp. v. NASA 1 Business Center, 754 S.W.2d 152 (Tex. 1988)
  • In re Seiscom Delta, Inc., 857 F.2d 279 (5th Cir. 1988)
PUBLICATIONS, PAPERS AND CLE PRESENTATIONS

Mr. Zavitsanos’ authorship and presentations at seminars include:

  • Primary author of O’Connor’s Texas Rules * Civil Trials 2018-2023
  • “Voir Dire and Preserving Error,” Houston Bar Association Civil/Appellate Bench Bar Conference, April 2023
  • “The Art of Business Litigation: A Conversation (Business & Ethics) & CLE,” March 2023
  • “How to Screw Up Your Voir Dire,” Houston Bar Association Litigation Section CLE, October 2022
  • “How to Command a Room: Impactful Presentations to Juries and Clients,” Houston Bar Association seminar, February 2022
  • “Strategies from Trial Titans: Trying a Case to the Modern Jury of the 2020s,” Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists, September 2021
  • “Civil Case Update,” Texas Center for the Judiciary Spring Regional Conference, May 2021
  • “Live Jury Trials in the Time of Covid: Lessons from the Front Lines,” Litigation Counsel of America webinar, November 2020
  • “How the Pandemic is Impacting the Future of Jury Trials in Texas,” Texas Lawbook webinar, Houston, October 2020
  • “The Art of Business Litigation: A Conversation,” ALM’s Texas Business Litigation CLE presentation, Houston, March 2020
  • Contributing author of Texas Business Litigation 2019, published by Texas Lawyer
  • “The Art of Business Litigation,” University of Houston Law Center CLE, Houston, November 2019
  • “Opening Statements in David vs. Goliath,” America Bar Association, Litigation Section, New York City, May 2019
  • “Tactical Considerations in Business Trials,” Houston Bar Association, Litigation Section, Houston, April 2019
  • “Mining for Silver: Discovery Update,” 2019 HBA Civil/Appellate Bench Bar Conference, Houston, April 2019
  • “Voir Dire Panel Perspective – Effective Voir Dire and Opening,” Texas Bar CLE, Houston, October 2017
  • “Lies in Business and Under Oath” CLE course in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, December 2016
  • “Punitive Damages in Commercial Litigation: Pursuing and Defending Claims – Leveraging Pretrial Motions, Discovery and Trial Strategies, Navigating Constitutional Restraints” webinar, Strafford Publications Inc., April 2014
  • “Witness Credibility in Trial and Depositions,” Texas Lawyer’s In-House Counsel Summit, April 2014, November 2013,  May 2012
  • “Witness Credibility at Depositions and Trial – Do’s and Don’ts,” State Bar of Texas – Texas Minority Counsel Program, 18th Annual Conference, September 2010
  • “Lessons Learned from Trying a Breach of Fiduciary Case,” Houston Bar Association, Litigation Section, December 2008
  • “Cross Examination,” University of Houston Law Foundation, Civil Litigation, February 2008
  • Credibility and Impeachment – University of Houston Law Foundation; Advanced Evidence and Discovery, November 2007
  • Witness Credibility – How To Prepare, Achieve, And Destroy It; Lorman Education Services, June 2006
  • Preparing Your Witness for Deposition and Trial, Houston Bar Association, March 2006
  • Types of Claims and Their Values, Houston Bar Association, September 2005
  • Preparing Your Witness for Deposition and Trial, Houston Bar Association, November 2004
  • Witness Credibility – How To Prepare, Achieve, And Destroy It, Lorman Education Services, September 2004
  • Credibility and Impeachment: Fundamentals of Direct and Cross- Examination, University of Houston Law Foundation – How to Offer and Exclude Evidence, September 2002
  • Preparing Your Witness for Deposition and Trial, University of Houston Law Foundation, June 2002
  • Punitive Damages – Phase II, University of Houston Law Center – Litigation and Trial Tactics, December 2000
  • Asserting, Contesting and Preserving Privileges Under the New Rules, University of Houston Law Foundation – Advanced Civil Discovery Under the New Rules, June 2000
ADMISSIONS
  • State Bar of Texas
  • US District Court, Eastern District of Texas
  • US District Court, Northern District of Texas
  • US District Court, Southern District of Texas
  • US District Court, Western District of Texas
  • 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • General and Trial Bar of the Northern District of Illinois
IN THE NEWS

Jury Refuses to Find Against Odessa Pumps; Awards It $2.4 Million

Doctor Group Wins $153 Million Against Insurer United Healthcare

Ten AZA Lawyers Make 2023 Super Lawyers List; Two are Top in Texas 

Jury Awards AZA Client Mid Main $32.5 Million in Midtown Construction Case

AZA Co-Founders Honored as Best in Texas by Business Today 

Twenty-Six AZA Lawyers Honored as Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch

Texas Jury returns nearly $9M verdict against Toby Eoff and others involved in conspiracy against energy giant

Five AZA Partners Named Leading Litigators in America

LAWDRAGON 500 LEADING LITIGATORS IN AMERICA

Ten AZA Lawyers Ranked among US Best for Commercial, Intellectual Property, Appellate and Personal Injury Litigation for 2023

AZA Represents Ben & Jerry’s in International Lawsuit Against British-based Parent Company

John Zavitsanos Named to Lawdragon’s 500 Top Plaintiff Financial Lawyers List 

AZA Wins for Healthcare Clients Earn Top Verdict Rankings in Texas, US

AZA Selected as a Finalist for National Elite Trial Law Firm 2022  

AZA’s John Zavitsanos Named National Law Journal’s Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Trailblazer

Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: AZA Law’s John Zavitsanos

Zavitsanos One of Law360’s 10 National ‘Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar’ for Groundbreaking Healthcare Jury Trial Wins

John Zavitsanos Interviewed on CNBC About Why Trial Lawyers Need to Work in Person  

AZA Victorious in $62 Million Nationally Watched TeamHealth Trial Against Insurance Giant United Healthcare 

AZA and Three Name Partners Earn Honors in Benchmark Litigation’s 2022 Guide 

Ten AZA Lawyers Make Super Lawyers List; Four Rank among Top 100 

Three AZA Partners Make Lawdragon’s 500 Top Plaintiff Financial Lawyers List 

Twelve AZA Lawyers Ranked among US Best for Commercial, Intellectual Property, Personal Injury Litigation and Appellate Law for 2022 

AZA’s John Zavitsanos Interviewed on NPR About Office Opening During the Pandemic

AZA Selected as a National Elite Trial Law Firm 2021 Award Winner  

AZA’s 2020 Success Featured in New York Times Essay

Houston Jury Sends U.S. Insurance Companies a Strong Message on Behalf of Emergency Room Doctors 

AZA Earns Texas Super Lawyers Honors; Three Make Top 100 Lists 

TeamHealth ER Doctors’ Group Wins $9.4 Million Arkansas Jury Verdict for Underpayment by Centene Corporation 

AZA Trial Lawyers Among Nation’s Best for Commercial, Intellectual Property Litigation and Appellate Law for 2021 

For Seventh Year, Prestigious Chambers USA Ranks AZA Among Top Texas Commercial Litigation Firms 

John Zavitsanos Earns Recertification by the National Board of Trial Advocacy 

AZA Beats the Odds for Energy Company in Tragic Oklahoma Explosion  

AZA Gets Turkey Leg Hut Restaurant Lawsuit Dissolved in Two Weeks 

AZA, Three Firm Partners Honored by Benchmark Litigation Fifth Year in a Row

Texas Super Lawyers Again Honors Seven AZA Lawyers; Three Are Top 100

Barratry Suit Over Deepwater Horizon Spill Victims Dismissed

Prestigious Chambers USA Ranks AZA Among Top Texas Commercial Litigation Firms Sixth Year In A Row

AZA’s $20M Take-Nothing Verdict for National Oilwell Varco Stands on Appeal

AZA Wins Rare $2 Million Attorneys’ Fees Award for Defendants

Dr. Steven Hotze and Two Brothers Win Take-Nothing Verdict in Family Business Dispute

AZA Lawyers Named Among Nation’s Best for Commercial, Patent Litigation and Appellate Law

National Oilwell Varco Wins $12 Million After Discovering Ex-Employees’ Fraud

AZA Partner John Zavitsanos Organizes Summit on Religious Freedom

AZA Scores One of the Nation’s Top 100 Verdicts of 2017

Former NOV Employee Begins Serving Prison Term for Felony Theft

AZA Obtains Judgment for Apache Corp. in Fraud Suit

US Supreme Court Won’t Overturn NOV Win in $120M Discrimination Suit

AZA Lawyers Zavitsanos, Robinson to Co-Author 2018 Issue of Essential Trial Guide O’Connor’s Texas Rules * Civil Trials

Prime Natural Resources Wins $41.6 Million in Wellsure Insurance Dispute

WSJ: Texas Union Fights to Stay in Bankruptcy after Losing Defamation Case

AZA Lawyer Zavitsanos Tells Newspaper How Social Media Aids in Jury Selection

Houston Janitorial Service Wins $7.8 Million from Union Over Disparagement

AZA Wins Sanctions Order Against Wells Fargo in Securities Fraud Lawsuit

Bankruptcy Trustee Dismisses Case After Expert Fails On Cross Examination

AZA Partner John Zavitsanos Discusses Trial Techniques in Law360 Article

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