AZA Law Firm opened in July 1993 with two attorneys and a single governing idea: try cases. Joe Ahmad and John Zavitsanos had shared a legal education at the University of Michigan Law School, built early careers at large Houston law firms, and arrived at a common conclusion — that a boutique organised around courtroom performance could compete directly against far larger institutions. Before co-founding the firm, Zavitsanos had worked in the trial department of Baker Botts’ Houston office.
Day-one clients confirmed the direction. Three came over on the first day of business: Mercedes-Benz North America, real estate developer Gerald Hines, and the American Automobile Association. Ahmad later described how that beginning defined the firm’s path: “Our very first client led us to a trial and appeal that ended in a seven-figure recovery for our client, and we never looked back.”
First Years in Trial
Within two years of opening, the pace Ahmad and Zavitsanos had envisioned was already visible. Ahmad and Zavitsanos took 14 jury matters to verdict in 1995, prevailing in 13. Those numbers — for a two-year-old firm — were notable. They established a competitive identity that would carry the practice through its next decade of growth.
Commercial litigation and intellectual property were central to AZA Law Firm’s practice from those earliest years. The firm concentrated on complex business disputes and patent matters that frequently placed a small team of AZA attorneys against much larger opposing counsel. That adversarial positioning in the courtroom, rather than a broad transactional role, defined how the firm recruited, what cases it pursued, and how it built its reputation over the following decade.
Rankings and Milestones
AZA reached its 20th anniversary in July 2013 with a lawyer count that had expanded from two to close to 30, and a client base covering energy companies, technology firms, and major corporations with complex commercial disputes. John Zavitsanos reflected on that milestone: “I take great pride looking back at our accomplishments and seeing the stable of bright, creative and trial-ready lawyers working at AZA today.”
During those two decades, Chambers USA began ranking the firm in its annual guide, a recognition that has since become one of the more durable external measures of AZA Law Firm’s standing in the Houston market. Chambers USA has now ranked AZA consecutively for more than 12 years in both commercial litigation and intellectual property. Individual attorneys have earned separate recognition alongside the firm’s institutional rankings: Zavitsanos holds a top band in general commercial litigation, and partners Todd Mensing, Tim Shelby, and Rey Flores have each been ranked in the same category, while Jason McManis has been ranked for intellectual property work.
U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers included AZA among the country’s best commercial litigation firms for 14 consecutive years. Texas Lawyer named the firm Litigation Department of the Year three times, and Law360 designated it a Texas Powerhouse law firm.
Building Out the Practice
Jason McManis heads AZA Law Firm’s intellectual property group, a practice covering patent infringement, trade secrets, and technology disputes across industries that include wireless networking, digital media, financial services, and medical devices. His trial record includes a $78.5 million jury verdict against Samsung for patent infringement and verdicts of $625.6 million and $302 million against Apple on behalf of VirnetX Inc. in separate patent cases.
Daryl Moore, a former Harris County district court judge, joined AZA’s appellate practice in 2021. Moore has held board certification in Civil Appellate Law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1995. Chambers USA recognised Moore for appellate work in its rankings. Seven AZA attorneys now carry individual recognition in the annual guide.
A Second Office, Thirty-Two Years On
AZA Law Firm opened a Dallas office in January 2026 after 32 years as a Houston-only firm. Plans for the expansion had been announced in 2025. Warren McCarty became the managing partner of the Dallas location, which is housed at Trammell Crow Center in the city’s downtown. At the time of the announcement, the firm had grown to 64 lawyers.
Growth in the intellectual property practice drove the geographic decision, as AZA’s patent and technology caseload pushed toward a second Texas market. Beyond the business case, cultural fit with existing attorneys shaped who would lead the new office. Zavitsanos described the criteria for that decision: “He very much fits our culture and that really is the main driver: whether they have AZA DNA in them.”
That phrase captures something consistent across three decades: the firm has organised itself around a specific idea of what a trial lawyer should be and has treated every hiring decision as an extension of that standard. Since 2016, AZA Law Firm has kept at least one matter in active trial in nearly every calendar month, a pace that has continued as the firm grew from a two-attorney founding into a 64-lawyer practice operating from two offices.
Chambers USA has ranked AZA as a Tier 1 Houston firm in multiple litigation categories, including appellate practice, with seven attorneys now carrying individual rankings in the annual guide. Texas Lawyer has named the firm Litigation Department of the Year three times, and Best Lawyers’ Best Law Firms has honored AZA for 14 consecutive years.
More than three decades after Ahmad and Zavitsanos opened in Houston with two attorneys and day-one clients who expected trial work, the firm’s structure remains recognisable from its founding logic. AZA Law Firm now operates across commercial litigation, intellectual property, energy, healthcare, and appellate practice from two Texas offices. Ahmad’s account of the firm’s first engagement, that the first client led to a trial and a seven-figure recovery and they never looked back, describes an operating philosophy that has held through every hiring decision, practice expansion, and geographic addition since July 1993.
