Alumni Spotlight: Arman Nikkhoo ’19L Arman Nikkhoo is senior counsel in the Houston office of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani.

Arman Nikkhoo ’19L

Arman Nikkhoo is a 2019 graduate of W&L Law. After law school, Arman returned home to Houston, Texas, where he completed a clerkship in a state district court, before transitioning into private practice of mostly civil litigation.

Discuss your career path and how it led you to Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP.

The short answer is, networking, tenacity, and “leaning into” professional relationships. That is what got me where I am today, at Gordon Rees. My practice is mostly commercial litigation, but what I do is based on client needs. I mostly defend claims for business and personal injuries, but clients often need me to handle business disputes that may evolve into litigation, as a plaintiff or defendant, or revise transactional or corporate documents, to help avoid similar disputes in the future. I also provide ongoing business advice to my clients.

As a 19L, I was licensed just before the COVID-19 Pandemic. I had initially planned to fast-track into trial experience by working with a family friend at his federal criminal practice, but the courts closed. My family friend understood that, due to COVID, I needed to shift my focus to networking. I used Colonnade Connections (the W&L Alumni network database) to connect with alumni across the State of Texas. In fact, I met most of the W&L alumni in my current professional network by simply contacting them, following up, and asking about their career and advice. I also reconnected with the judge I clerked for during law school, the Honorable Caroline E. Baker, formerly of the 295th District Court of Texas.  Judge Baker offered me the opportunity to clerk for her again and taught me how judges think and about the stark difference between bench trials and jury trials. After my clerkship, Andrew “Andy” Harvin ’76 hired me for my first associate position. He took me under his wing, and today, much of Andy’s “style” is my “style.” Courtney Gahm-Oldham ‘10L introduced me to one of my current bosses and has continued to provide me with guidance over the years. I share this so young lawyers understand the value of community. In short, this is my advice: network and do not let anything discourage you from it.

 What sort of legal issues do you handle on a day-to-day basis?

Since I do mostly litigation, the legal issues I most often encounter involve civil procedure, evidence, contracts, torts, and ethics. I stress to younger attorneys that you should master the rules of procedure and evidence as soon as you can. As the saying goes, “I’ll let you write the substance . . . and you let me write the procedure, and I’ll [beat] you every time.” Know the rules.

What do you like about your current job?

The freedom, entrepreneurial spirit, a plethora of growth opportunities, trial experience, and expanding my practice to meet client needs. For example, I secured a directed verdict on an affirmative defense established on cross examination of the pro-se plaintiff, as sole trial counsel, earlier this year. At my level, I mainly need reps, so this is exactly what I need.

What are some practices you have in your daily life as an attorney to maintain wellness?

Eat well, hydrate, get enough sleep, exercise, socialize, and put your phone away.

Looking back, what do you think is the most formative experience you had in law school?

This is sort of embarrassing, but getting knocked out in the first round of the intramural mock trial competition was a monumental teaching moment for me and my practice. In this round, I was one of the plaintiffs’ counsel, and one of the defense counsel was our future class valedictorian. As I was handling the direct examination of our expert, our valedictorian continued to object to my questions, and while he was probably right most times, I had no plan, so I froze, staring down at my outline, in a moment of deafening silence that felt like an eternity. Everyone, including my co-counsel, advanced to the next round except me. I learned countless lessons from this moment of perceived failure, including this one I tell clients: everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. My advice is this: until you build confidence through experience, you should prepare by “overpreparing,” plan for everything that could go wrong, and ask questions. This makes it into a learning opportunity, and that is what everyone wants.

Which W&L classes and/or experiences do you think were most helpful in preparing you for this job? 

The well-rounded legal education I obtained at W&L Law was a solid foundation for my practice. Federal Jurisdiction and Procedure with Professor Joan Shaughnessy was incredible. Professor Shaughnessy was a fantastic teacher and mentor, and she will be missed. Other cornerstone courses for me were Professor Russell Miller’s Comparative Constitutional Law, Professor Josh Fairfield’s Privacy & Data Security, and Professor Albert Carr’s FERC Practicum. Exploring law in these areas, under the guidance of these incredible professors, helped train my brain to think like a lawyer.

 What advice do you have for prospective law students?

If you decide to attend law school, my advice to you is focus on feeding and training your brain and expressing it. The point of law school is to learn a new way of thinking and communicating. There is zero substitute for reading, getting “into the weeds,” and distilling the subject matter, then organizing your thoughts on paper. Do not wait until the last minute. You need time for editing. This is the polishing phase. Your goal will always be getting a more polished, refined work product, in the first draft, independently. I also recommend taking handwritten notes whenever possible, because it forces you to think. Law is a dialogue.

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