LASSO INJURY LAW

many ways attorney Al Lasso is the epitome of what Las Vegas is all about. Giving up on the security of complacency, throwing caution to the wind, betting it all and winning big in the end. This is what Al Lasso did and it paid off not only for him in winning some of the largest verdicts in the United States, but also for the safety of thousands and thousands of people he will never meet. We recently caught up with Al to discuss his journey from casino dealer to one of the most respected attorneys in Las Vegas.

HELLO AL, YOU HAVE BEEN IN LAS VEGAS FOR 30 YEARS, CAN YOU TELL US HOW YOU CAME TO VEGAS AND OWNING LASSO INJURY LAW?

My journey is a little different than most attorneys. I grew up in New Jersey, in a blue-collar family. My mom was a homemaker and my dad a fireman. When I graduated from high school, I decided that college was not for me. So, while I always wanted to be an attorney, I did not go in that direction right away. In fact, I opened my own One Hour Photo business in my hometown.

OWNING A ONE HOUR PHOTO BUSINESS IN NEW JERSEY IS A LONG WAY FROM HAVING A TOP-RATED LAW FIRM IN LAS VEGAS, HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT?

My brother was involved in a very severe car crash that caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down and I saw firsthand how badly he was treated by insurance companies and even attorneys. I made a vow to myself that I would one day become an attorney and make sure that none of my clients were treated that way. That I would always take care of the “little guy” like my brother that no one else seemed to care about. 10 years out of high school I decided it was time to follow my dream.

THAT IS AN ADMIRABLE DREAM BUT WITHOUT A COLLEGE DEGREE AND 10 YEARS OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL, IT WOULD APPEAR THAT DREAM WAS A

That is very true, but that did not stop me. I was 28 years old, and I knew it would take 7 years to complete my dream. I figured, I am going to be 35 either way, so I could be doing the same thing I am doing, or I could be an attorney helping people. I decided to sell my business, sell my home, and move to Las Vegas where I could learn how to deal craps and be able to go to school full-time while working in a casino at night full-time so I could make a living. That is what I did, packed up the family, enrolled in dealers’ school, became a craps dealer, and went to school full time at UNLV. I even worked as an extra in movies such as “Casino” to make additional money while in school. Only in a 24-hour town like Las Vegas does that opportunity present itself.

THERE WAS NO LAW SCHOOL IN LAS VEGAS BACK THEN, HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO GO TO LAW SCHOOL?

Ha ha yes… I guess I should have thought that through. Once I graduated college, I was accepted at Seton Hall Law School back in New Jersey. So, we packed everything up again and moved back to the East Coast. Living back there was very tough, it was great to see family and friends, but we had very little money and I was delivering pizzas to get by. We were living in a converted two car garage, which was small for a growing family, cold, and not what we had become used to in Las Vegas.

OK, THAT IS STILL A LONG WAY FROM BEING BACK IN LAS VEGAS AS AN ATTORNEY AND WINNING ONE OF THE LARGEST JURY TRIAL VERDICTS IN HISTORY FOR A SLIP AND FALL CASE.

You know the lure of Las Vegas and the beauty of living here is tough to get out of one’s system and of course the opportunities here are unlike anywhere else. We wanted to move back. I had a friend I dealt craps with whose wife played golf with a Judge and gave out my resume to the Judges in Clark County. Judge Bonaventure, one of the most highly respected and acclaimed jurists in Las Vegas, was looking to hire a law clerk and took a chance on me. So, for the last time, we once again packed up the U-Hauls and made the final trip back across the country to Las Vegas. I was very fortunate in that one of the first cases I worked on as a law clerk was the infamous and worldwide publicized case of the Ted Binion murder trial. I also was the Law clerk for the Jeremy Strohmeyer re-hearing and the Margaret Rudin “Black Widow” murder trial. Those cases really gave me an “into the frying pan” experience in learning the law. I learned much more than anything I ever learned in any law school class. Later, I would be privileged to be hired by the best criminal defense attorney in Las Vegas, Dominic Gentile, who taught me a lot about defending my clients.

I’d like to think that fate played a hand in it but either way it does make for a great story.

When I was selected to be Judge Bonaventure’s Law clerk, we had no money to get back to Las Vegas. Basically, we had spent everything we had getting me through law school. The move back would be costly. I just could not ask family and friends, without who we never would have made it that far, for anymore help. At the last minute, I had entered my name in a New York Radio station contest.