HOUSTON – Joe Ahmad, partner and co-founder of AZA, was honored with a Distinguished Member Award at the South Asian Bar Association of Houston’s 2019 gala.
He was honored for his distinguished career at the groups’ annual charity gala May 11 at the St. Regis Hotel.
Mr. Ahmad is known for his courtroom prowess, his measured and reasoned approach to the law, his mentorship of young lawyers and his dedication to legal professionalism. In 1993, he co-founded AZA, or Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C., which has grown into a powerhouse trial boutique.
Mr. Ahmad has been a member of SABA Houston since he came to Houston in 1989 after graduating from law school at the University of Michigan and serving a federal court clerkship. Mr. Ahmad, a Pakistani-American, has practiced employment law for years and has been recognized nationally as one of the best lawyers in his field. He focuses now on representing executives in a variety of matters, including breach of contract, trade secrets, covenants not to compete, breach of fiduciary duty and other matters. He writes a blog called Legal Issues in the Executive Suite.
“It is especially meaningful for me to be recognized by SABA. When I first moved to Houston, SABA was a refuge for me. And it is wonderful to look at the organization 30 years later and see that rather than a group on the periphery, we have asserted ourselves into the community, holding judicial candidate events, pushing for diversity on the bench and supporting worthy charities,” Mr. Ahmad said.
He is an elected member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates, an elite group of the country’s leading judges and civil trial lawyers. He has been selected by his peers as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” since 2003 and he was named a “2015 Lawyer of the Year” in the Houston area. Mr. Ahmad has been recognized as a leading lawyer in “Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.” He has been named to the Texas Super Lawyers list since 2003, been on the Texas Super Lawyers Top 100 in Houston since 2006 and named a Benchmark Litigation Star in 2016-2019.
SABA Houston is dedicated to the needs, concerns, and interests of lawyers of South Asian heritage by promoting the professional development of the South Asian legal community through networking, advocacy, and mentoring. SABA Houston is also dedicated to ensuring the civil liberties of and the provision of legal services to the South Asian community in Houston by educating the Houston South Asian community about our legal system and encouraging greater participation by the South Asian community in the legal profession and American government.
Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C., or AZA, 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.
AZA Co-Founder Joe Ahmad Honored by the South Asian Bar Association - AZA Law