Jason S. McManis

Career

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

Publications

"Protective Orders: What You Don’t Know May Hurt You” Houston Bar Association CLE, April 2022

“Personal Injury Damages: Addressing Pain and Suffering, Pre-Impact Damages, Conscious Suffering Before Death” webinar, Strafford Publications, April 2022

“Trials, Depositions, Hearings, and other Remote Proceedings,” State Bar of Texas Webinar, December 2020

“Polishing Your Evidence: Technology in the Courtroom, including Apps,” 2019 HBA Civil/Appellate Bench Bar Conference, Houston, April 2019

“Lost Profits Damages: Cost Behavior Analysis, Calculation Methods” webinar, Strafford Publications, March 2019

Work Highlights

PATENT AND TRADE SECRET LITIGATION

Won jury verdicts of $625.6 million and $302 million on behalf of VirnetX Inc. in its patent infringement lawsuits against Apple Inc. VirnetX, Inc. v. Apple Inc., No. 10-cv-417/12-cv-855 (E.D. Tex.).

Represents Anonymous Media Research Holdings in two multi-million dollar patent infringement suits against Samsung and Roku for AMR’s patent portfolio covering a particular type of ACR technology. Anonymous Media Research Holdings, LLC v. Samsung Elecs. Co., Ltd., No. 2:23­-cv-439 (E.D. Tex.); Anonymous Media Research Holdings, LLC v. Roku, Inc., No. 1:23-cv-1143 (W.D. Tex.).

Represents Autoscribe Corp. in multiple patent infringement suits and in ongoing licensing efforts related to its patent portfolio relating to a particular technology for online payment processing. Autoscribe Corp. v. Repay Holdings Corp., No. 2:23-cv-349 (E.D. Tex.); Autoscribe Corp. v. Fortis Payment Sys., LLC, No. 2:23-cv-364 (E.D. Tex.); Autoscribe Corp. v. Payment Savvy, LLC, No. 23-cv-390 (E.D. Tex.).

Won $9 million dollar verdict in a 3-month jury trial in 2023 for DNOW against multiple former employees and their new company in a trade secret theft and conspiracy matter. DistributionNOW v. Eoff, et al., Cause No. 22-DCV-294327, 434th Judicial District, Fort Bend County, Texas.

Represents LoganTree LP in patent infringement litigation related to wearable fitness technology brought against Apple Inc. and Fossil Group, Inc. currently pending in United State District Courts for the Northern District of California and the District of Delaware. LoganTree LP v. Apple Inc., No. 22-cv-2892 (N.D. Cal.); LoganTree LP v. Fossil Group, Inc., No. 21-cv-385 (D. Del.).

Represents Augmenta LLC and others in defense of claims for theft of trade secrets and declaratory judgment of invalidity of two patents relating to a medical implant device. International Medical Devices, Inc. v. Robert Cornell, et al., No. 20-cv-3503 (C.D. Cal.).

Represented Acantha LLC v. DePuy Synthes Sales and other Johnson & Johnson affiliates in patent infringement suit related to spinal implant devices. No. 15-cv-1257 (E.D. Wisc.).

Won $22 million jury verdict on behalf of Cellular Communications Equipment LLC against Apple Inc. after a seven-day jury trial. Cellular Comms. Equipment LLC v. Apple Inc., et al., No. 14-cv-251 (E.D. Tex.).

Obtained $50 million settlement on behalf of Washington University (St. Louis) Professor Robert E. Morley in his lawsuit against Square, Inc., Jack Dorsey, and Jim McKelvey for patent infringement, breach of joint-venture and fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of trade secrets. Robert E. Morley, Jr., et al. v. Square, Inc., et al., No. 10-cv-2243/14-cv-172 (E.D. Mo.).

Won a jury verdict of $532.9 million on behalf of Smartflash LLC in its patent infringement suit against Apple, Inc. Smartflash, LLC v. Apple Inc., No. 13-cv-447 (E.D. Tex.).

COMMERCIAL & OTHER LITIGATION

Won a jury verdict in 2023 defeating GR Energy’s $30 million breach of contract dispute brought against Odessa Pumps, a DNOW subsidiary. Odessa Pumps and Equipment, Inc. v. GR Lift, L.P., et al., Cause No. 2022-16349, 129th Judicial District, Harris County, Texas.

Successfully represented a widow on behalf of herself and her three children in a wrongful death case stemming from a fatal helicopter crash in Leesburg, Florida, resulting in a significant settlement for the family.

Won a jury trial on behalf of Nevada-based emergency room physician groups against United HealthCare for systematic underpayment for emergency room services. After a seven-week trial, the jury awarded $2.65 million for underpayment of claims and an additional $60 million in punitive damages for United Healthcare’s fraud, oppression, and malice against the emergency room physicians. This verdict against a cluster of United Healthcare affiliates will serve as a bellwether for more than two dozen similar cases around the nation against various insurers.

Successfully obtained complete dismissal of all claims and sanctions against a key competitor under the Texas Anti-SLAPP statute on behalf of a co-founder of Houston-based real estate private equity firm. The case settled while on appeal. No. 2020-52067 in Harris County’s 215th District Court.

Represented a business owner in a fraud and breach of contract suit relating to the sale of his automotive finance and insurance agency business to a large, national competitor. After successfully obtaining dismissal of multiple counterclaims brought by the national competitor, the case was resolved by settlement. Powers v. IAS, No. 6:20-cv-01136 (W.D. Tex.).

Represents Targa in a complex fraud and breach of contract dispute against Vitol involving over $200 million in claimed damages, including the successful defense against a $150 million fraud damages claim in a bench trial. The case was one of Texas’s first fully remote complex commercial trials conducted entirely by Zoom. It is currently on appeal.

Obtained a total defense win on behalf of prominent Houston family business owner in a complex, potentially $30 million dispute with a take nothing verdict after five-week jury trial. David Hotze v. IN Management, LLC et al. No. 2016-36300 in Harris County’s 61st District Court. The case was named among the largest Texas courtroom wins in 2018 by the Houston Chronicle in “The Biggest Courtroom Wins of 2018″ (subscription required) and Texas Lawbook in “The Top Texas Litigation Stories of 2018” (subscription required).

Education

Awards