Jason S. McManis
Top rated Intellectual Property Litigation attorney in Houston, Texas
Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, PLLC
Practice areas: Intellectual Property Litigation, Business Litigation
Licensed in Texas since: 2013
Education: University of Virginia School of Law
Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, PLLC
1221 McKinney StSuite 2500
Houston, TX 77010 Phone: 713-655-1101 Email: Jason S. McManis Visit website
Jason S. McManis is a partner at AZA and the head of AZA’s intellectual property group. He is a skilled trial lawyer with extensive experience in front of the jury in courtrooms across the United States. IAM Patent 1000 ranks Mr. McManis as a leading patent litigator and highlights that he “is often brought in to take over cases from previous counsel” while commending his ability to “adapt to changing circumstances with alacrity.”
Mr. McManis represents both plaintiffs and defendants in high stakes patent infringement and trade secret disputes, and his history of success includes cases involving all types of technologies, including wireless networking, financial services, digital media, data security, oilfield services, app development, and medical devices.
From his successes across a diverse array of technologies and legal issues, Mr. McManis has learned how to simplify complex and often highly technical issues for judges, juries, and clients. IAM Patent 1000 emphasizes that “he easily resonates with a jury through distilling down complex technical details and understands the finer details of patent law to steer a case in his favour.”
Over the course of his career, Mr. McManis has taken on some of the largest companies in the world, helping to secure some of the largest plaintiff’s jury verdicts in the country in recent years, including over $1 billion in patent infringement verdicts against Apple, a $62.65 million verdict against United Healthcare, and a nearly $9 million verdict for a client protecting its trade secrets. Many of these verdicts have been recognized in the Texas Lawyer Verdicts Hall of Fame and among the Top 100 verdicts in the country by VerdictSearch and the National Law Journal.
In addition to his patent and trade secret work, Mr. McManis handles complex commercial disputes across the oil and gas, healthcare, commercial and residential real estate, automotive, and aviation industries. He also represents plaintiffs and defendants in catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases.
Specifically recognizing his trial prowess, Law360 named Mr. McManis as one of only five Rising Stars for Trials in the entire country in 2022 out of more than 1,350 nominations. Numerous other independent publications have recognized Mr. McManis for his trial and intellectual property success, including Lawdragon, Best Lawyers in America, IAM Patent 1000, and Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers.
First Admitted: 2013, Texas
Professional Webpage: https://azalaw.com/our-attorneys/jason-mcmanis/
Bar / Professional Activity
- State Bar of Texas, 2013
Verdicts / Settlements (Case Results)
- Fremont Emergency Services, et al. v. United Healthcare Services, et al., Case No. A-19-792978-B, Clark County, Nevada. Won a seven week jury trial on behalf of Nevada-based emergency room practice groups against United HealthCare for systematic underpayment for emergency room services. The jury awarded $62.5 million in damages and punitive damages., 2021
- Powers v. IAS, No. 6:20-cv-01136 (W.D. Tex.). Successfully obtained dismissal of multiple counterclaims before reaching a favorable settlement on behalf of the plaintiff., 2021
- Agarwal, et al. v. Goyal, Cause No. 2020-52067, in the 215th Judicial District, Harris County, Texas. Settled all claims on behalf of defendant after winning complete dismissal, fees, and sanctions in trial court under the Texas Anti-SLAPP statute., 2021
- Ultra Premium Services, LLC et al. v. OFS International, et al., No. 4:19-cv-2277 (S.D. Tex.). Favorably resolved a trade secret case on behalf of OFSI after defeating attempts to obtain a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. Also achieved complete dismissal of all claims brought by Ultra in two follow-on disputes., 2020
- Blackbeard Operating, LLC et al. v. Ruckus Energy, Inc. et al., No. 342-316065-20, in the 342nd District Court, Tarrant County. Resolved $50 million trade secret lawsuit on behalf of Ruckus Energy and its founding members for favorable settlement terms before summary judgment stage, 2020
- C&J Energy Services, Inc., et al. v. Jesse Ulate, et al., Cause No. 2019-06048 in Harris County's 151st District Court. Direct and cross examination of witnesses in successfully obtaining temporary injunction protecting plaintiff's confidential information and enforcing other restrictive covenants. Negotiated favorable settlement and permanent injunction before trial., 2019
- David Hotze v. IN Management, LLC et al. No. 2016-36300 in Harris County’s 61st District Court. Obtained a total defense win on behalf of prominent Houston family business owner in complex, potentially $30 million dispute with a take nothing verdict after five-week jury trial. Gave opening statement for the defense and conducted direct and cross examinations. , 2018
Representative Clients
- TeamHealth - Represents TeamHealth, the leading physician practice in the United States, and its affiliated practice groups in claims against insurance companies around the country for underpayment of medical claims., 2021
- W&T Offshore, Inc. - Represents W&T, an oil and natural gas production and exploration company, in trade secret dispute in adversary proceeding brought by Arena Energy., 2021
- Targa Resources Partners - Represents Targa, a publicly trade midstream company, in breach of contract dispute., 2020
- OFS International, LLC - Represents OFSI and its affiliates, suppliers of OCTG products, in trade secret dispute with former sister company and competitor in the market., 2020
- Ruckus Energy and affiliates - Represented Ruckus Energy, a startup exploration and production company, in trade secret dispute., 2020
Educational Background
- University of Virginia School of Law, J.D. - National Trial Advocacy CollegeVirginia Law & Business Review, 2013
- B.A., English, Dartmouth College, 2008
Scholarly Lectures / Writings
- The battle over lost profits damages in commercial litigation is contentious and can involve significant damages awards. Lost profits are often the most substantial aspect of the plaintiff's claim, one of the most challenging types of damages to prove, and are particularly susceptible to attack. When an injured business loses revenues, that business also avoids costs required to generate those revenues. These avoided costs must be deducted from lost sales to determine lost profits damages. However, experts often disagree on how to calculate these costs. Cost estimation is an integral part of a lost profits analysis. Attorneys must understand this cost analysis to determine what documents to request in discovery, as well as how to structure cross-examination questions for witnesses and experts to draw out the information essential for their expert to perform the required analysis. Listen as our panel of distinguished experts guides litigators on understanding cost behavior analysis and its impact on calculating lost profits damages. Our panel will discuss common methods for determining avoided costs as well as what information attorneys must be gathering during discovery to aid experts in conducting a cost analysis., Presenter, Lost Profits Damages: Cost Behavior Analysis, Calculation Methods, Strafford Publications, 2019
- Panel on technology in the courtroom and use of technology at trial., Presenter, Polishing Your Evidence: Technology in the Courtroom, including Apps, 2019 Houston Bar Association Civil/Appellate Bench Bar Conference, 2019
Industry Groups
- Medical/Healthcare
- Oil And Gas/Oilfield Services
- Real Estate
- Software
- Technology
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2026
- Rising Stars: 2018 - 2025