HOUSTON – The South Asian Bar Association of North America (SABA) presented AZA partner Shahmeer Halepota with its Rising Star Award. He was one of only five winners of this international honor.
Mr. Halepota has served on the board of the South Asian Bar Association of Houston for the last six years, including as president this past year. During the last year, SABA Houston launched a scholarship program for law students, piloted a mentorship program with 26 participants and hosted more than a dozen events with a cumulative total of more than 700 attendees.
In April, Mr. Halepota also received the 2025 Best Lawyers Under 40 Award from the Asian Pacific Interest Section of the State Bar of Texas and he has previously been awarded the Muslim Bar Association of Houston’s Rising Star Award.
He was also named on the Texas Rising Stars lists for 2021-2024 for his excellence in civil litigation. Rising Stars, which is compiled by Thomson Reuters’ Texas Super Lawyers, honors leading attorneys age 40 and younger and those who have been in practice no more than 10 years. He also received the 2025 Best Lawyers Under 40 Award from the Asian Pacific Interest Section of the State Bar of Texas.
“SABA North America is a tremendous organization that has had a significant impact on the community. It is an honor to receive this recognition, which would not have been possible without the love and support of my family, colleagues, and fellow board members of SABA Houston,” Mr. Halepota said. The award ceremony was at the 2025 SABA North America Annual Conference in Denver.
Mr. Halepota focuses on complex commercial litigation disputes. He currently serves as co-lead counsel for Transocean in a multi-hundred-million-dollar maritime dispute and has served as lead counsel in a highly publicized controversial case for the independent board of Ben & Jerry’s for the last three years.
His significant victories include obtaining a complete take-nothing award in a $150 million oil and gas dispute following a multi-week arbitration; zeroing out the plaintiff and securing a $30 million dollar counterclaim along with attorneys’ fees following a six-week jury trial; and securing a complete defense victory in a $80 million dollar arbitration.
Mr. Halepota attended the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, and began his practice in Skadden’s international arbitration department.
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, healthcare, intellectual property and business dispute cases. AZA was recognized again by Chambers USA 2025 as among the best in Texas in commercial law and intellectual property; the firm has been listed by Best Lawyers’ Best Law Firms as one of the country’s best commercial litigation firms for 13 years; has been named Litigation Department of the Year by Texas Lawyer three times; and was previously dubbed a Texas Powerhouse law firm by Law360.