Best Law Firms in Houston, TX for Litigation - Intellectual Property

Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing or AZA, is home to true courtroom lawyers who provide clients with a formidable track record in complex commercial litigation including energy, trade secret, intellectual property, construction, and business dispute cases.

AZA earned a coveted rating for its work in Texas commercial litigation in the 2014 -2021 editions of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, published by Chambers and Partners which is recognized worldwide for its prestigious guides to the legal profession. AZA was named First-Tier in Commercial Litigation in Houston by U.S. News & World Report and The Best Lawyers in America in their rankings of the nation’s Best Law Firms. Likewise, AZA was named a Recognized Firm by Benchmark Litigation—the definitive guide to America’s leading litigation firms and attorneys.

In 2015, AZA was recognized as one of only 10 boutique firms nationally by Law360 for successfully challenging the nation’s biggest law firms. The list of Top 10 Boutiques includes firms that are on par with the biggest firms but less expensive and more accessible to clients. Likewise, AZA was named among the “Most Feared Law Firms” by corporate counsel at major U.S. companies, as surveyed by the leading legal research group BTI Consulting. The 40 firms across the country on the 2015 list were chosen on the basis of extensive interviews with 300 general counsel and in-house litigation counsel at top-spending companies and organizations. In addition, AZA was chosen the 2015 and 2019 Litigation Department of the Year by the publishers of Texas Lawyer newspaper. The annual honor recognizes the Texas-based litigation firms that have excelled during the previous year based on courtroom results. Just three general firms are chosen statewide for having the top litigation departments.  AZA, a powerhouse with fewer than 40 lawyers, claimed the top spot in the small-firm category. 

Dedication to clients, coupled with the ability to prevail in the courtroom before judges and juries alike, is why so many general counsel across the U.S. know AZA. It’s also why corporate counsel have named AZA one of the law firms with the best client service of those serving the Fortune 1000. In fact, AZA has been hired on many occasions by the same companies the firm has prevailed against at trial.

Founded in 1997, Texas-based Hicks Thomas LLP is a premier litigation firm representing plaintiffs and defendants across the nation with offices in Houston, Austin, Beaumont and Amarillo, Texas, and Sacramento, California. The firm provides in-depth experience in cases involving oil and gas, environmental, complex commercial, toxic tort, construction, products liability, corporate governance, securities, banking, insurance coverage, transportation, trade secrets and business litigation.

Practice Areas:

• Appellate Practice
• Business Litigation
• Commercial Arbitration
• Environmental Litigation
• International Arbitration
• Construction Litigation
• Offshore Energy Litigation
• Oil & Gas Litigation
• Securities Litigation
• Toxic Torts
• Trade Secrets
• Transportation Litigation
• Labor and Employment Litigation

Founded in 1990 by noted trial lawyer Mark Lanier, The Lanier Law Firm is recognized as one of the premier trial law firms in the United States. The firm’s experienced trial attorneys represent companies and individuals across the country from offices in Houston, New York, Los Angeles and Dallas/Fort Worth.

The firm’s vast trial experience includes substantial verdicts in cases involving asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, serious personal injuries, product liability, dangerous drugs, business fraud, and other civil litigation. The firm also is noted for its work defending some of the country’s largest companies. For example, in 2016, Mr. Lanier won two federal trial jury verdicts that together totaled more than $1.5 billion in litigation over metal-on-metal hip implants manufactured by DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., a subsidiary of New Brunswick, New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson. In April 2014, Mr. Lanier and the firm won a record verdict against pharmaceutical giants Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Eli Lilly & Co. over the dangerous side effects of the diabetes medication Actos, which ranked as the 7th largest verdict in U.S. history. More recently, Mr. Lanier secured a historic $4.69 billion verdict against Johnson & Johnson in the first trial verdict to affirm the link between asbestos-laden talcum powder and ovarian cancer.

Although record-setting legal victories are a firm trademark, the primary focus remains with Mr. Lanier’s original vision to provide “the highest quality legal care delivered in an honest, professional manner to enrich the lives or businesses of our clients.” Every attorney at The Lanier Law Firm is committed to solving clients’ problems while working toward favorable legal resolutions.

Mr. Lanier serves as the firm's lead litigation counsel and is recognized as one of the nation’s top trial lawyers. In addition to his Best Lawyers in America recognition, Mr. Lanier was named Lawyer of the Year in Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions by Best Lawyers and has been highlighted among the top 10 attorneys in Texas in the annual Texas Super Lawyers magazine, and featured in Texas Lawyer’s “Go-To Guide” as the state’s premiere personal injury attorney and as one of "The 25 Greatest Texas Lawyers of the Past Quarter Century."

The National Law Journal has recognized Mr. Lanier as one of the nation's Top 10 Trial Attorneys on two different occasions and highlighted him as one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America" and one of the "Decade's Most Influential Lawyers." Following his victory in the nation’s first trial over the pain medication Vioxx, Mr. Lanier was described in The New York Times as “one of the top civil trial lawyers in America.”

Chambers USA and The Legal 500 ranked The Lanier Law Firm among the nation's leading firms for work in Plaintiffs' Product Liability and Mass Tort Class Actions. Editors of The National Law Journal named The Lanier Law Firm among its list of Elite Trial Lawyers and as the nation's top-ranked law firm in the area of Medical Device Litigation.

A strong supporter of his alma mater, Mr. Lanier earned his law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1984. He remains active at Texas Tech by serving on the Law School's Foundation Board and was previously honored as the Texas Tech University School of Law Distinguished Alumnus.

Another hallmark of The Lanier Law Firm is its dedication to professional and community involvement. Mr. Lanier is the founder of the Christian Trial Lawyers Association, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to create a network of principled attorneys to minister to others through civic-minded endeavors. Mr. Lanier also serves on the board of trustees for the Committee for Economic Development, a group of business and education leaders committed to improving the growth and productivity of the U.S. economy and greater opportunity for all Americans.

All the firm’s attorneys and staff support numerous local charities, including Houston’s SIRE therapeutic equestrian centers, Los Angeles’ Midnight Mission, the San Francisco non-profit Legal Services for Children, and New York’s Bowery Mission Children of Bellevue.

"It's More Than A Case. It's A Cause."