The Escape and Ascent of Arnold Shokouhi

After fleeing a tumultuous Iran in the early 1980s, Arnold Shokouhi, J.D. ’06, looks at life through a shared lens of determination and humility.

August 22, 2024

Soon after the revolution in Iran, while he was still a toddler, Arnold Shokouhi’s mother, Mahin Resapour, spirited him and his older brother out of the country. “Things were tumultuous,” Shokouhi says. “My mom just wanted a better future for her children.”

They escaped at one point through tunnels, traveled through Iraq and Turkey, and made temporary homes in Istanbul and a coastal town outside Rome. It was there that the family applied for entry at their desired destination—the United States.

When the family’s plane finally touched down in their new country—in Las Vegas of all places—young Arnold already spoke four languages. “You were thrown in the American melting pot,” he says. “It's like basically every other immigrant story.”

This story is also one of success.

Fast forward almost 40 years and Shokouhi is at the top of his field. He is a managing partner at McCathern, Shokouhi, Evans—a Dallas law firm he helped found—and a formidable litigator in the courtroom. Among his many professional accolades, D Magazine named him a Dallas Best Lawyer from 2014 to 2017 for Banking & Finance and Business Litigation, and he is a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.

He celebrates Thanksgiving each year with a huge dinner with his extended family and friends, and then the group motors over to AT&T Stadium to watch the Dallas Cowboys play.

“It’s a family tradition, and it’s a really cool and humbling experience, knowing the background of our family and how hard we worked. To be able to do that every Thanksgiving is awesome,” he says. Plus, Shokouhi’s mother is a huge Cowboys fan.

The ascent took nerve and it took grit. Once they arrived, Resapour chose Austin for her family, in part because it was a university town. “It was an accepting place, highly educated and perfect for a young immigrant family,” says Shokouhi. “And my mom is a force.”

Resapour put herself through cosmetology school and soon operated her own boutique. Shokouhi attended Southern Methodist University where he studied finance. As evidence of his exceptional perseverance, he put himself through a rigorous training regimen and won the Mr. SMU bodybuilding title as a senior—a goal he set as a freshman.

Shokouhi came to East Lansing to earn his law degree, then moved back to Texas to cut his professional teeth, perhaps unsurprisingly, as a litigator. “I always say, being a doctor is like being a lawyer, being a litigator is like being a surgeon.”

It takes a certain kind of intensity to enjoy cross-examination as much as Shokouhi does. “It’s one of my favorite things in the world to do,” he says. “The person thinks they have it all figured out, but you’re getting the answers you need and getting them to follow your reasoning.”

It’s not for everyone, though, he says. “I tell our young attorneys, you’ve got to put it in a box and desensitize yourself to it. But I love it, especially if you believe in your cause.”

Texas may be his home, but Shokouhi remains a passionate Spartan. “I loved my time at Michigan State. It’s a great school and a great community,” he says. “And I love Michigan State football. I saw the college football semifinal here at AT&T Stadium against Alabama in 2015. That didn’t turn out so well for us, but I’m hoping we come back to glory.”

And Arnold Shokouhi knows, perhaps better than most, that it’s the climb that makes glory great.  

Contributing Writer(s): Chris Quirk