Vegas Legal Magazine | Spring 2018

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EDITOR IN CHIEF Preston P. Rezaee, Esq. PUBLISHER Tyler Morgan, Esq. DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Jeffry Collins DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Danielle Saenz ADVERTISING INFO@VEGASLEGALMAGAZINE.COM CALL 702-222-3476

CONTRIBUTORS

Erica A. Bobak, Esq. Andrew Cash, M.D. Deb Dahan J. Malcolm DeVoy, Esq. Mark Fierro Nedda Ghandi, Esq. David J. Housey Kyle Lauterhahn Mark Martiak Myron Martin Carol Miller Valerie Miller Rick Nelson Maryam Rastkerdar Howard Riell Stan V. Smith, PhD Donovan Thiessen, CPA Glenn H. Truitt, Esq. Caleb M. Zobrist, Esq.

SPRING 2018 CONTENTS

COVER STORY

LAW

12 // Piercing The Veil 16 // Saving Sandoval 18 // Protect Your Fee 21 // Highs & No’s 24 // Open Murder To Gross Misdemeanor 28 // Quarterly Economic Commentary 30 // Meet The Incumbent: Judge Mark Bailus 32 // Skyfall Lounge Party Photos 36 // Wynn Resorts Legal Fight 38 // Steve Wynn: Creating The Modern-Day Las Vegas 43 // Golden Knights Hockey Scores Big in Las Vegas 47 // Las Vegans on The Golden Knights

BUSINESS

PG. 47

PUBLIC SPEAKING PG. 55

51 // VLM’s Black Book 55 // Public Speaking 59 // Cryptocurrency Enforcement 61 // Reviewing Societal Mores 62 // 2018 Jaguar XJ 64 // State Of The Market

LIFESTYLE

66 // Saks Fifth Avenue 72 // Bar Review: G.O.A.T. Sports Bar 74 // Hamilton Tickets 76 // Laser Spine Surgery 78 // Las Vegas Icons: Al Marquis 80 // Dieting 81 // Humor

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Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 5

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LETTER FROM

THE EDITOR

M

ake no mistake America, they are coming for our guns. And we god fearing, freedom fighting, gun toting patriots are completely defenseless. Well, except for, you know, our assault rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, silencers, smoke grenades, flash grenades, armor piercing bullets, and other military grade weapons. That notwithstanding however, we are completely and utterly defenseless.

Let us remember that we are all part of one American family. We are united in common values and beliefs. That includes the belief in certain inalienable human rights. No. Not life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. Rather, those fundamental right which God willed our founding fathers to enumerate under the Second Amendment – the right to bear arms. A God-given right bestowed upon every American – even those with mental illnesses and criminal backgrounds. We must stand united in in stubborn defense of the Constitution. We must combat the tyranny of changing times, logic, or wisdom gained in light of experience and common sense.

The solution to a school massacre is not more gun control. Rather, the solution is to arm everyone. After all, nothing reassures parents more than surrounding their children with more guns. If only everyone was armed we would enjoy the same comfort, serenity, and tranquility as our friends in the Middle East. If only. Let us pray.

Preston P. Rezaee, ESQ

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 7

Photography donated by: Melissa Crevling

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LETTER FROM

THE PUBLISHER

A

merica, we have a gun problem. How many more mass shootings must we witness before something is done to prevent them? Can we prevent all future shootings? No. But we can implement change so the frequency by which they occur is limited. Since the recent shooting massacre at a Parkland, Florida, High School in February, there have been cries for change and as history shows, this time there will be change. The question just becomes: how much change?

No doubt the constitution allows Americans to bear arms, but that doesn’t mean it should be without limitations. Gun owners feel it’s their constitutional right to own guns including those classified as “war weapons,” but while the constitution doesn’t label the types of guns allowed, you must be naïve to think the day won’t come when it does. The world progresses to society’s demands and gun control is now what society demands. Just as society brought the end of slavery and implementation of women’s’ rights, society has had enough of the guns and our gun rights are changing. Do we need to take all guns out of the hands of Americans? No. But it’s reasonable to limit which guns we can own because quite frankly too many bad actors have abused the power given to us.

Politicians in Florida are already starting to show signs of a break away from the National Rifle Association (NRA) by introducing legislation to raise the minimum purchase age from 18 to 21. There is also a group of the same looking to place limitations on magazine sizes. Some stores have even gone as far as to cease sales of semi-automatic rifles. These are good starter measures; but what about the blatant problem that there are more guns on our streets than any other developed nation? Of the over 600 million civilian owned guns worldwide, Americans own just shy of half of them. Why do we own so many of them? Perhaps it’s the work of the NRA driving fear into Americans that our government is somehow out to get us all one day and we need to be ready to fight back. Whatever the reason, America has become obsessed with guns in an almost religious way. So, I ask: Why can’t we leave the heavy machinery at the gun ranges for enjoyment? Why must we bring it all home? Are you that scared to live in your home that you need a barrage for weaponry to keep you safe? We have become so accustomed to the ease by which you can own a gun that they are leaking into the hands of anyone and everyone–even the mentally unstable. The idea of simply keeping records on those who shouldn’t own guns sounds great in theory, but people who are now sane may soon become the insane and they already own the guns.

The focus of America should first be on limiting the ease of access to guns. Then, we need some serious attention given to gun violence research and mental health care. We are a short-tempered society and when tempers flare it’s the guns, that are easily accessible, that we run to. Unfortunately, after this last mass shooting our focus has been on placing more guns in the schools. More armed security isn’t likely going to be the deterrence as it wasn’t in Columbine or Parkland. It’s the crazy shooter’s realization that he can’t readily get his hands on a weapon of mass destruction to carry out his plan that will force him to rethink. Then we need to have a better system of addressing the “crazy” in that potential shooter’s head.

America, let’s get real…and reasonable and do something.

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 9

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PiercingTheVeil:

Nevada’s Supreme Court Confirms That Limited Liability Companies Are Subject ToThe Alter-Ego Doctrine & CorporateVeil-Piercing Claims – By J. Malcolm DeVoy, Esq. & Erica A. Bobak, Esq.

N

evada has long been regarded as a business haven because of its favorable laws regarding corporate governance and strong protections for business owners’ assets. These protections, however, are not limitless. One area of interest for transactional attorneys and litigators alike has been whether and how the alter-ego doctrine—the idea that corporate formality should be disregarded in favor of finding that a company and its owners are one and the same—should apply to Nevada limited liability companies. For years, the Nevada Supreme Court avoided directly addressing the question, but finally was forced to do so in Gardner v. Henderson Water Park, 133 Nev. Adv. Op. 89.

1. Understanding the Alter-Ego Doctrine in Nevada.

Alter-ego liability for business entities such as corporations and limited liability companies has been around for decades, colloquially referred to as “piercing the corporate veil.” Under common law, this remedy was available to prevent injustice in the event of an entity being created to enrich its owners and protect them from liability, while leaving those harmed by the company or corporation without an adequate remedy. Some of the hallmarks of cases justifying a finding that the business entity was merely the alter-ego of its owner or owners, and designed solely to avoid liability, are facts indicating fraud, undercapitalization, and commingling of personal and business funds.

In 2001, the Nevada Legislature codified Nevada’s alter-ego doctrine as it applied to corporations in NRS 78.747. This legislation wrote Nevada’s alter-ego doctrine into the State’s corporate law. This provision did not, however, find an analogue enacted in NRS Chapter 86, which governs the existence of limited liability companies. The argument then arose that the omission of this provision from Chapter 86 was intentional, and that limited liability companies were intended

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 12

to be exempt from the alter-ego doctrine. Indeed, prior Nevada law confirmed that “omissions of subject matters from statutory provisions are presumed to have been intentional.”1 But like many things in life, the law also abhors that which appears too good to be true, or that would lead to an absurd result. Without directly deciding the issue, Nevada’s courts assumed for years that the alter-ego doctrine codified in NRS 78.747 would apply to limited liability companies as well.2 The Nevada Legislature’s enactment of NRS Chapter 86 in 1991 also contemplated that limited liability companies would be subject to the same doctrine of alter ego as corporations, which at that time was applied by the courts, rather than embodied within a statute.3 Although the Nevada Supreme Court had not directly spoken on whether the alter-ego doctrine would apply to limited liability companies, whether before or after the 2001 enactment of NRS 78.747, cautious transactional attorneys and intrepid litigators assumed that it would.

2. The Facts of the Gardner Case Required the Nevada Supreme Court to Confront the Alter-Ego Doctrine.

The Gardner case arose from the non-fatal drowning of a six-year-old boy at Cowabunga Bay Water Park in Henderson, which is operated

by Henderson Water Park LLC. The injured youth’s parents brought suit against Henderson Water Park LLC, and ultimately wished to pursue its members and managers. Henderson Water Park LLC’s members—the company’s owners—consisted of two other limited liability companies, a strategy regularly used by attorneys to further shield individual clients from personal liability.4 In that arrangement, one or more individuals or entities create a special purpose limited liability company to hold their interest in a company such as Henderson Water Park LLC, which does business with the outside

world, and faces the prospects of on-site accidents, injured patrons, and other risks.

During the course of litigation, Gardners’ counsel conducted discovery on Henderson Water Park LLC and its two managing members, West Coast Water Parks, LLC and Double Ott Water Holdings, LLC (the “Member LLCs”). In turn, seven individuals were owners or managers of the Member LLCs, and these individuals also served on a committee to manage Henderson Water Park LLC. Based on their findings in discovery, the Gardners’ counsel moved to amend their complaint to name the Member LLCs and the seven individuals who owned or managed the Member LLCs, and managed Henderson Water Park LLC, as individual defendants in the lawsuit.

Within the proposed amended complaint, the Gardners intended to assert claims for alter-ego against Henderson Water Park LLC and the Member LLCs to reach the personal assets of the seven individuals who managed the businesses.

The district court denied the motion for leave to amend the complaint, finding that Nevada law did not allow for alter-ego liability against Henderson Water Park LLC and its members or managers.

The Gardners’ counsel petitioned the Nevada Supreme Court for an emergency writ of mandamus, ordering the district court to allow the Gardners to file their amended complaint. The Nevada Supreme court granted the petition and ordered that the district court should allow the Gardners to file their amended complaint.

First, the Nevada Supreme Court held that the proposed amended complaint alleged negligence claims against the individual managers based on their personal duties, rather than Henderson Water Park LLC’s duties to the injured minor. This portion of the Gardner opinion reaffirmed the protection of managers under NRS 86.371 extended to claims against the company, but not to them personally. The Nevada Supreme Court drew this distinction between Henderson Water Park LLC and its individual members by noting that “the Gardners’ proposed amended complaint contained multiple allegations of individual negligence by the [m]anagers concerning their direct knowledge and actions that threatened physical injury to patrons,” including the injured youth in that case. Based on these allegations, Henderson Water Park LLC’s managers were pulled outside the protections of NRS 86.371—for the purposes of pleading—and could be named as defendants.

Most significantly, the Nevada Supreme Court reversed the district court and unequivocally stated “the alter-ego doctrine applies to LLCs.” Recognizing that this was the norm across several states to have considered the issue, the Nevada Supreme Court analyzed authority that subjected limited liability companies to the alter-ego theory of liability, whether based on express statutory requirements under common law. Noting that the Nevada Legislature’s creation of NRS 78.747 in 2001 merely “codified” a “judicially created doctrine,” the Nevada Supreme Court rejected any argument that the creation of NRS 78.747 was intended to negatively imply limited liability companies were not subject to the alter-ego doctrine. Yielding to concerns about fraud, abuse, and inequitable results, the Nevada

Supreme Court wrote: “As recognized by courts across the country, LLCs provide the same sort of possibilities for abuse as corporations, and creditors of LLCs need the same ability to pierce the LLCs’ veil when such abuse exists.”

Thus, any remaining question about whether and how the alter-ego doctrine would apply to Nevada limited liability companies was resolved by the Gardner decision.

3. Implications for the Future: The Nevada Supreme Court Confirms the Expectations of Litigators and Transactional Attorneys Alike.

While Gardner provides an important confirmation of what many had long suspected, and crushes any wiggle room that might have existed about the alter-ego doctrine’s application, it is more of a confirmation than a new declaration of law. The decision’s holdings as to the personal liability of managers and members draw new attention to the importance of determining what acts, if any, a company will indemnify its managers or members for taking. While Gardner itself may lead to a rise in alter-ego claims, the pleading standards for bringing such claims, including the need to allege acts constituting an abuse of the corporate form leading to injustice, remain a barrier to drive-by allegations of alter-ego.

As criminal defense attorneys have balked that prosecutors could indict a ham sandwich, it remains true that, subject to Rule 11, a plaintiff can allege what he or she pleases. Proving alter-ego, however, is a different matter. For attorneys that do not practice litigation, this decision re-emphasizes the importance of having clients document their operations with bylaws, operating agreements, minutes of meetings and significant activities, and reasonable internal controls to maintain strong borders between or among the entity, its management, and its ownership. Although Gardner does not change the law or necessarily change the expectations of attorneys, it brings several issues to the fore that can be costly for businesses to remedy and even more painful to litigate.

J. Malcolm (“Jay”) DeVoy is the owner of DeVoy Law P.C., and Erica A. Bobak is an associate attorney with the firm, joining upon completing her clerkship for Department 30 of the Eighth Judicial District Court. DeVoy Law focuses on providing representation to clients in significant business disputes, serious personal matters, and advising medical professionals and practices about issues including licensure, HIPAA, Stark Law, and the Anti-Kickback Statute.

1Dep’t of Taxation v. DaimlerChrysler, 121 Nev. 541, 548, 119 P.3d 135, 139 (2005); Galloway v. Truesdell, 83 Nev. 13, 26, 422 P.2d 237, 246 (1967).

2 Webb v. Shull, 270 P.3d 1266, 1271 n.3 (Nev. 2012) (citing Montgomery v. eTreppid Technologies, LLC, 548 F. Supp. 2d 1175, 1180-81 (D. Nev. 2008) (recognizing that federal and state courts have consistently applied to LLCs corporate laws for piercing the corporate veil under the alter ego doctrine); see Volvo Constr. Equip. Rents, Inc. v. NRL Rentals, LLC, 614 F. Appx. 876, 878 n.1, 880 (9th Cir. 2015); see also In re Giampietro, 317 B.R. 841, 845-46 (Bankr.

D. Nev. 2004) (Wherein the court first noted its belief that Nevada courts would apply the same common law standards for alter ego liability to members of limited liability companies that they had placed upon shareholders of corporations).

3 See Hearing on A.B. 655 Before the Assembly Judiciary Comm., 66th Leg. (Nev., May 21, 1991).

4 The Gardner case has generated at least one other reported Nevada Supreme Court decision that is closely related to this issue, but distinct enough that succinctly discussing it here risks complicating the alter-ego issues discussed in this article. For that reason, this article will not address the other Nevada Supreme Court decision relating to Gardner, although the authors recommend reading it.

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 13

SAVING SANDOVAL Las Vegas Attorney & Iraq Veteran Releases New Book W

hile deployed to the most dangerous area in Iraq in 2007 known as the “Triangle of Death,” U.S. Army Specialist Jorge Sandoval, an airborne infantryman and elite sniper, was instructed to “take the shot” and kill an enemy insurgent wearing civilian clothes. Two weeks later, Army investigators descended upon Sandoval’s unit and began interrogating the soldiers and trying to link Sandoval and others to war crimes. Sandoval was ultimately charged with six felony level offenses, to include two counts of murder. The case made international headlines with leading stories in the New York Times and Washington Post.

Then, Captain Craig W. Drummond was the Army JAG military defense attorney assigned to Sandoval’s case. The new book covers the events from the moment the trigger is pulled on the battlefield through the trial that took place in a U.S. military compound on the outskirts of Baghdad during the height of the enemy uprisings in Iraq. The book brings the reader into the reality of modern warfare in a post September 11th environment where the enemy does not always wear a uniform. The detailed account of the investigation and trial testimony from elite Army snipers brings the reader into the courtroom and onto the battlefield of Iraq.

The book is receiving rave reviews and high praise from the legal and military community.

“A revealing, real-life courtroom drama, reminiscent of A Few Good Men.”--Hunter R. Clark, Director, International Law and Human Rights Program, Drake University Law School.

“Armed forces continue to operate in uncertain and complex environments and this story is an insightful and powerful look into the challenges and judgments faced by a young sniper deployed to the battlefield of Iraq.”–Brigadier General Jeffery L. Underhill, U.S. Army Retired, (Iraq Veteran).

SAVING SANDOVAL was published by Wild Blue Press which is owned

by New York Times Bestselling Author Steve Jackson. The book is available now on Amazon.com. Craig W. Drummond is a Las Vegas attorney at the Drummond Law Firm practicing in Personal Injury and Criminal Defense.

He received the Bronze Star for his service in Iraq. More information about Craig and the book can be found at DrummondFirm.com

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 17

PROTECT YOUR FEE, PerfectYour Lien –By Nedda Ghandi, Esq.

P

icture this: You are retained as plaintiff ’s counsel in a personal injury action on a contingent fee basis. Through your expert handling of the matter, you procure a favorable settlement or judgment for your client. Your client is pleased with the result, and you are ready to collect your fee. But will you get paid if your client files a bankruptcy petition?

If your client’s finances or even medical bills from their injury are such that bankruptcy is inevitable, a properly perfected charging lien may be crucial to protect your right to payment. See In re Nicholson, 57 B.R. 672, 675 (D. Nev. 1986) (holding a bankruptcy trustee may avoid an unperfected charging lien). Indeed, my firm has been involved in several bankruptcy cases in which the debtor’s personal injury counsel was unable to recover his or her fee as an unsecured creditor. If those firms had taken advantage of the statutory lien afforded to Nevada attorneys, however, they would have been in a much better position to recover their fees, as claims secured by statutory liens take priority over many other claims that may be made against the debtor’s assets, such as most medical bills and credit card debt. See generally 11 U.S.C. § 507 (priorities); 11 U.S.C. § 724 (treatment of certain liens). Thus, an attorney’s contingent fee is much more likely to be paid when secured by a perfected charging lien.

Charging Liens & How To Perfect Them To perfect a charging lien, you must serve both the client and the defendant(s) personally or by certified mail, return receipt requested, with written notice stating that you are claiming a lien and the amount claimed. See NRS 18.015(3)1. Where the amount of the attorney’s agreed-upon fee is a percentage of the proceeds, the notice must disclose the attorney’s contingency percentage and claim court costs and out-of-pocket costs advanced by the attorney

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 18

in an amount to be determined. See Golightly & Vannah, 373 P.3d at 106, 132 Nev. at ___. Importantly, proper notice must be given before any funds are received. Id. If this procedure is timely completed, your charging lien will be perfected and attach to any money or property recovered on account of your client’s claims— and, in the event of a bankruptcy, you will likely be at or near the front of the line to be paid as a secured creditor. Should you fail to serve the appropriate notice to all necessary parties before a settlement is carried out, the lien will not attach and you will be relegated to unsecured creditor status in the event of a bankruptcy.

Don’t let your hard work go to waste due to your client’s financial circumstances. Follow the simple procedure for perfecting a charging lien and protect your hard work and corresponding fee!

1. In relevant part, NRS 18.015(1)(a) provides that an attorney “shall have a lien . . . [u]pon any claim, demand or case of action, including any claim for unliquidated damages, which has been placed in the attorney’s hands by a client for suit or collection, or upon which a suit or other action has been instituted.” This “charging lien” secures the amount of any fee agreed upon by the attorney and the client, or, absent an agreement, a reasonable fee for the attorney’s services, and attaches to any judgment entered and any money or property recovered on account of the suit or other action. See NRS 18.015(2)-(3). However, the charging lien does not spring into existence the moment judgment is entered or settlement papers are signed. Rather, in order for the lien to attach and provide the intended security, the attorney must strictly comply with the procedure for perfecting the lien before recovery is obtained. See NRS 18.015(4); Golightly & Vannah, PLLC v. TJ Allen, LLC, 373 P.3d 103, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 41 (2016).

Nedda Ghandi, Esq., is the founding partner of Ghandi Deeter Blackham Law Offices.

A Nevada native, Ghandi is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law and has practiced law in Las Vegas for 9 years. Ghandi has written numerous articles for publications concerning interesting developments in the law, and has been selected as a member of Nevada’s Legal Elite and as a Super Lawyer every year since 2013. Ghandi Deeter Blackham specializes in family law, bankruptcy, guardianship, and probate. Consultations may be scheduled by calling 702.878.1115 or visiting www.ghandilaw.com.

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Highs & No’s: The Do’s & Don’ts of Cannabis Investing –Caleb M. Zobrist, Esq., Glenn H. Truitt, Esq. and David J. Housey

I

nvestors – especially those unfamiliar with the cannabis market – have traditionally been hesitant to invest in an industry the federal government views as illegal. While this still holds true for most institutional investors, smaller firms and groups of wealthy individuals are becoming increasingly interested in cannabis.1 However, the majority of information surrounding these investments still lies somewhere between rumor and nuance, and the dizzying array of so-called cannabis “experts” can lead one to the conclusion that there is no such thing (there is, but they’re hard to spot).

The Cannabis industry has a lot in common with business in general.

The industry includes agricultural, commercial processing, retail and laboratory businesses – each of which has a broad market of comparable enterprises for comparison. The maturity of these sectors also means that traditional accounting and financial reporting is more than adequate for business analysis purposes.

So, you’re looking to invest in marijuana. You’re not alone. Billions of dollars of private equity are flowing into the cannabis business – with billions more flowing into the rapidly growing public market for marijuana securities. However, if you have even a remote connection to this sector – you’ve likely been solicited (or know someone who has) with a private equity opportunity. Despite the federal illegality of the cannabis industry, in general (owing to the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, as governed by the federal Controlled Substances Act), federal securities laws still apply to investment in marijuana businesses.

Here’s a quick guide to what to do next.

Securities The Supreme Court has adopted a flexible and liberal approach in determining what constitutes a security. In its famous decision of SEC v. W.J. Howey Co., 328 U.S. 293, 90 L.Ed. 1244, 66 S.Ct. 1100 (1946), the Court held that land sales contracts for citrus groves in Florida, coupled with warranty deeds for the land, and a contract to service the land, were “investment contracts” and thus securities. The Court stated that [a]n investment contract for purposes of the Securities Act means a contract, transaction or scheme whereby a person invests his money in a common enterprise and is led to expect profits solely from the efforts of the promoter or a third party. 66 S.Ct. at 1103.

In general, all securities offered in the U.S. must be registered with the SEC or must qualify for an exemption from the registration requirements.

Registering securities (as publicly traded companies do) is an exceptionally expensive undertaking, and requires the full-time support of an experienced securities law firm. It is critical for the success of the issuance of private securities that they avoid registration by qualifying for a Regulation D exemption and properly documenting that exemption.

No matter what you are told by a cannabis company seeking investment, if you give them money, with an expectation of return on your investment without any material effort on your part: you are being issued a security.

As a result, you should be provided with a private placement memorandum (“PPM”; a prospectus and required legal disclosure statement) and a Subscription Agreement (providing the terms of your investment – and your qualification as an accredited and/or sophisticated investor). The PPM must include information regarding its qualification for a Regulation D exemption.

Valuation One of the greatest challenges facing investors in new markets is proper valuation of marijuana enterprises. Speculation and short supply can drive equity valuations into inflated multiples based on rapid growth expectations. Conversely, perceived risk can be overestimated and drive equity valuations into substandard positions. No matter what, the one valuation you should be skeptical of is the one provided by the issuing company. The offer, itself, represents a valuation (e.g. if you get offered 10% of a company for $100,000 investment – that’s a $1,000,000 valuation), but may also include detailed analysis to highlight the valuation discount or premium.

Nevertheless, you should have the pro forma financials reviewed by an independent financial professional – including an independent valuation, for perspective. The resulting quantitative analysis will provide important information on the nature of the offer you’ve been provided.

Compliance For the amateur investor, legal compliance is likely your biggest concern.

For professional money, the regulatory environment is just another variable in the valuation. While compliance risk has always been a material element of cannabis investing (and will be until marijuana is legalized at

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 21

HIGHS AND NO’S

the federal level), it has become particularly sensitive in light of Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinding the 2013 Cole Memo, which had directed US attorneys not to pursue properly-licensed marijuana businesses in marijuana-legal states.

If this repeal had gone unmentioned or unopposed, the increased risk would materially depress valuations and chill investment. However, opposition to the repeal was swift and widespread, including (at the federal level) U.S. Congressmen Polis of Colorado, Rohrabacher of California, and Blumenauer of Oregon sponsoring an amendment to the House’s next budget bill prohibiting the Justice department from spending money on the prosecution of legally-compliant cannabis businesses.

Additionally, Cannabis-legal states have indicated they will aggressively fight back any federal action taken to shut down state-legal Cannabis businesses. Many industry analysts cite the expected tax revenues that have already been budgeted, and the increase in local economies via job creation and the deep political unpopularity involved in eliminating or even reducing those revenues.

The bottom line is that cannabis investment remains at record levels with stable valuations and public sentiment strongly in favor of legalization (across both parties). Eventual legalization is all but inevitable.

Conclusion It’s a great time to invest in cannabis, despite what you may have heard in the news. When it comes to investment, follow the money – and with little or no money exiting cannabis companies, it remains a bull market.

However, once you’re ready to invest: • •

Make sure private securities offers are properly documented; and Secure your own independent valuation.

Because a good investment can still be a bad (or illegal) deal.

Glenn H. Truitt, Esq. is a managing partner at Ideal Business Partners (www. idealbusinesspartners.com), a multidisciplinary professional services firm serving healthcare professionals with state-of-the-art legal, financial compliance and strategic advice, working together to lift up their practices. IBP consults with ComplyPro (www.mycomplypro.com), a HIPAA compliance services company, serving Nevada and southern California, and employing both traditional and digital compliance tools to develop comprehensive, customized compliance solutions for any size practice.

Malvika Rawal, Ph.D., J.D., is a law clerk at Ideal Business Partners. She received her Master of Science at the University of Delhi in Biomedical Sciences and her doctorate degree in Free Radical and Radiation Biology at the University of Iowa. She then received her Juris Doctor at the University of Iowa College of Law in May 2016.

Rawal is deeply involved with ComplyPro, a HIPAA compliances services company.

1 Marijuana Business Daily. Marijuana Business Factbook 2017. p.6. https:// mjbizdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Factbook2017ExecutiveSummary. pdf

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 22

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Court of Public Opinion From Open Murder To Gross Misdemeanor –By Mark Fierro

I

n the pantheon of courthouse stories that will live on forever, there is a new entry: the case of the “Smoke Shop Shooter,” 24-year-old Raad Sunna, who was originally charged with open murder before he ultimately pleaded down to a gross misdemeanor in return for no time served. No trial. No felony record. No time. Zero. Nada.

One reason the case will live long beyond a mortal expiration date is the reaction of Dominic Gentile, the lead defense attorney in the case. Gentile has said that upon reflection, he is disappointed in the outcome.

“I know there are a lot of people applauding the result here, but I’m not one of them,” Gentile said. “It is a criminal defense lawyer’s horror to represent a person who is truly, factually innocent of what he is charged with, because it brings far more pressure. This was a classic example of how frustrating our criminal justice system is, because it is geared toward the negotiated settlement, the disposition, of cases.”

“Here you have a situation where a person should not have to carry on his record that he has been charged with a crime, and certainly should not have to carry that he has been convicted of a crime, because he did nothing illegal. He did nothing wrong. So, when you have somebody like that you are representing, it keeps you up at night — if you’re conscientious.”

Initially, Gentile’s contention of Sunna’s innocence seems to fly in the face of the fact pattern. The deceased person was 13 years old, unarmed, and had been shot in the side once and in the back six times.

The shooting generated sensational headlines from the evening of the incident. It began as a robbery attempt at a smoke shop in a southwest Las Vegas Valley strip mall, with three teenagers putting on layer upon layer of clothing to make themselves appear larger and more menacing. They donned shemagh-style masks, which many people associate with tactical military forces or terrorism.

All of the perpetrators’ preparation for the robbery was caught on surveillance video from a camera at a nearby store.

They burst in the door and rushed toward Sunna, the lone clerk in the family-owned smoke shop at the time. Video from the shop shows two of the attackers leaping behind the store’s counters and Sunna responding

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 24

by drawing his pistol. Seconds later, one of the masked robbers, Fabriccio Patti, would be dead on the floor.

Thanks in part to the surveillance video footage, Gentile liked his position from the moment he took the case. “When I first saw the video, I never believed the police or the district attorney would file any charges,” Gentile said. “Raad’s background was pristine. I don’t think I could possibly create a fictional client who had more to offer to society than this kid. He was just the poster boy for good behavior.”

Sunna is literally an altar boy. When he sat down with police to answer their questions on the night of the shooting, he asked that his priest accompany him. That priest, Father John Nicholas, would have been a stellar witness had the state decided to proceed to trial. Even though he had an altar boy client with a background that would be any defense attorney’s dream, Gentile was not fully confident in his chances until he saw the results of a pair of focus groups he ordered. (Full disclosure: Fierro Communications, Inc., provided support for Gentile’s firm in preparation for the case, particularly in the area of conducting and analyzing focus groups and mock juries. As a direct result of their work on this case Fierro Communications and Gentile have partnered to launch a business based on focus groups.)

“You always have to stress test your own beliefs and your own point of view and your own evaluation of the evidence against what others may think of it,” Gentile said. “Lawyers are often far removed from the mindset of those who have nothing to do with the law. Sometimes their judgment is too constricted by the rules of law. I know what the jury instructions are, I know what the elements are of murder and all the other included offenses of murder. I know where the burden of proof rests on self-defense. I saw it as self-defense. But there were a couple of powerful factors that were not necessarily working in Raad’s favor. One was the person he shot was 13 years of age. Of course, Raad could not have known that. But at the end of the day you do not know how much sympathy the jury will have for the parents of a dead 13-year-old. Another factor was the dead man was not armed. Again, there was no way for Raad to know that, particularly with the way he ran at him. It turns out one of his cronies was armed with a butterfly knife that could cut your throat in no time. But the dead man was not armed.

OPEN MURDER

“Both focus groups started out exactly the way I was afraid of, [...] looking at a 13-yearold, unarmed, and looking for a reason to convict...”

–Dominic Gentile, Esq.

“When those factors are in the mix, you have to worry about it. How is that going to impact emotionally the members of the jury? Regardless of what anyone says, the jury decides the case viscerally and then thinks of a rationale. That’s the nature of a group decision-making process. And that’s absolutely what juries do. Any trial lawyer or judge will tell you that.”

In studying the mock juries that made up the focus groups, Gentile’s resolve was strengthened when he observed that both groups independently decided that Sunna should be acquitted. “Both focus groups started out exactly the way I was afraid of,” Gentile said. “They started out by looking at a 13-year-old, unarmed, and looking for a reason to convict Raad Sunna. As they worked through it and started putting themselves in the place of Raad, the focus groups, without knowing what the other one was doing, both unanimously came to the conclusion that it was self-defense.

The irony was the paths each one took to that conclusion were different from the other. When you see them reaching the same result from two different paths, it puts steel in your spine.”

On Feb. 1, 2018, a year and two months after the shooting, Sunna was sentenced to probation and community service after pleading guilty to a gross misdemeanor. He originally faced a charge of open murder that carried the possibility of a life sentence without parole.

The outcome followed tense negotiations between Gentile’s firm and the district attorney’s office that lasted until the final possible moments.

The focus group research bolstered Gentile’s confidence during the negotiations.

“I strongly believe in focus groups. I’ve been doing them since the early ’80s,” Gentile said. “Focus groups don’t have to cost a lot of money. You can do a focus group without a lot of bells and whistles and benefit from it. What I really want to do is take the experience I’ve had with focus groups as well as juries, and we want to make it affordably available to more lawyers who handle jury-eligible litigation. I stopped counting, but I definitely have had more than 150 jury trials, every one of them as a private practice effort.

“I want to take that experience and share it with other lawyers. In the plaintiff personal injury arena, I think that cases are settled for too little because lawyers don’t want to spend the money for a focus group.

“And I’m absolutely certain that more cases should go to trial in the criminal arena. Too many cases are settled for way too great a penalty. This case proves that. It wasn’t finalized until the last minute. The next work day, we were supposed to start picking a jury at 9 a.m. And it was 4:59 p.m. the day before that the case was negotiated for what we had demanded.

The district attorney’s office didn’t give in for less than a felony until that moment.”

Even though Sunna and his family were satisfied with the decision, Gentile still does not consider it a just result.

“A just result would have been the district attorney dismissing the charges outright,” Gentile said. “What the district attorney did was play the game to the hilt by giving us the Hobson’s choice of running the risk of a renegade jury, who would not see it as the focus groups did, as opposed to something that was not a felony and would most likely not result in him being incarcerated.

“What was I going to tell the client and his family, ‘Trust me, we can win this case?’ I told them what I would tell my own son: You can’t always get what you want, but you can get what you need. What Raad needed, more than anything else, was not to run the risk of life in prison.

“It was three masked robbers running through the front door of a store, totally surprising him. Anybody with a gun would have done what Raad did. Anyone who would dispute that, I would tell them to go click on the video and watch it. And watch the video from the vestibule next door where they were preparing for the robbery.” Gentile ranks the case among the most memorable in his long and illustrious career. “It is absolutely, without a doubt, in my top five cases,” Gentile said. “Although I don’t feel happy about the result, in some respects it may be the best work I’ve ever done.”

Mark Fierro began his career as a reporter/anchor at KLAS-TV, the CBS television station in Las Vegas. He worked at the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. He served as communications consultant on IPO road shows on Wall Street.

He provided litigation support for the Michael Jackson death trial. He is president of Fierro Communications, Inc., and author of several books including “Road Rage: The Senseless Murder of Tammy Meyers.” He has made numerous appearances on national TV news programs.

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 25

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ECONOMIC EXPERT REPORT CREDIT DAMAGES –By Stan V. Smith, PhD & Kyle Lauterhahn

“W

ho steals my purse steals trash. ‘Tis something–nothing; ‘Twas mine, ‘tis his and has been slave to thousands. But he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed.”

– Othello Shakespeare’s character Iago offers this wisdom that has uncanny applications to modern consumer law. No one in William Shakespeare’s time was denied an auto Loan due to false credit reporting or was extended a mortgage loan that the lender knew the individual could never repay, leading to a foreclosure. But Shakespeare would still understand the damage done to one’s reputation. In modern times, a quality financial reputation - a good credit record - is very valuable, and one can become literally “poor indeed” when this is lost.

In November 2017, I had the privilege of speaking to many legal colleagues at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) Consumer Rights Litigation Conference in Washington, D.C. In a discussion session following the keynote speech by Senator Elizabeth Warren, I shared my research and experience regarding credit damage, the types of loses that can be claimed, and how these claims are to be valued. Here I share this knowledge with you.

Credit damage can arise from a variety of circumstances. Mistakes by consumer reporting agencies (CRAs, or credit bureaus) and by credit or information furnishers (Banks, credit card companies, etc.) result in credit damage to innocent Americans every day. Identity theft or identity confusion resulting in merged records is also a common cause of credit damage. Many errors and problems can arise from credit reporting agencies themselves. A recent revision of Equifax’s data breach assessment now shows a theft of over 143 million Social Security numbers, and counting. People seek credit damage compensation as a result of banks wrongfully extending mortgages during the credit boom that they could not afford, and upon which they subsequently have defaulted and have lost in foreclosure. Failure of banks to offer government-financed mortgage modifications for which applicants qualify can result in excess costs and

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 28

credit damage. Credit damage also frequently occurs during a divorce when one party ruins the credit history of another on jointly held credit cards or loans. Separating legal responsibility for mortgage payments on a jointly owned house and on other jointly held credit can be problematic when the parties are in emotional and perhaps financial adversity. Further, people can also sustain credit damage when they are injured, sick or wrongfully discharged, and do not work for a protracted period, reaching a point where they cannot pay their bills.

Sometimes credit damage arises in unique and unpredictable ways. One plaintiff paid fire insurance premiums to a bank, along with the mortgage payments on his home. A bank employee embezzled the funds and never made payment on the insurance policy. When the house burned down, the owner stopped making mortgage payments and sued the bank to recover the uninsured losses. The bank disputed the claim and foreclosed on his house. This was reported to the credit bureaus resulting is significant damage to his credit. The damage lasted during several years of litigation, but the reported foreclosure was eventually reversed.

Often, credit damage is reversible. Innocent error can be often corrected, even if not easily. But frequently, even though caused wrongfully and through no fault of the consumer, credit damage may occur and cannot be reversed, except by the passage of time, and sometimes not even then. If a person defaults on a mortgage through a breach of contract by another, the report cannot be reversed. The credit bureaus cannot erase or reverse the correct reporting of a foreclosure or a bankruptcy even if the consumer wins a lawsuit against the tortfeasor that caused this. Foreclosures, late payments, bad debt in collection, and other derogatory information, unless put on in error, remains on a credit report for seven years; bankruptcy remains for ten years. Tax liens remain on a credit report as derogatory information for seven years after they have been paid. If the tax lien has not been paid, Equifax and TransUnion will show the unpaid tax lien indefinitely while Experian shows it for fifteen years. If during a divorce, one spouse informally promises to pay real estate taxes on a jointly held house, or income taxes on a joint return, and subsequently fails to pay, the

other spouse can experience credit damage, possibly forever, unless the tax liens are eventually paid.

The damage may persist for as long as seven years in the case of an irreversible error (such as in the instance of the earlier-mentioned house fire) or up to ten years in the instance of a bankruptcy. Even if the bankruptcy results from breach of contract, and even if the consumer obtains a verdict in court that a breach has occurred, the Credit Reporting Agencies cannot reverse such derogatory information if the bankruptcy did occur, despite the fact that it arose through no fault of the consumer.

In some instances, it may be difficult to anticipate when the damage might terminate because, after seven or ten years when the credit scores have been restored, former low levels of mortgage rates may not be available.

There can be a variety of consequences to credit damage, among them: (a) withdrawal or loss of job offers, (b) significantly higher borrowing costs on credit cards and loans and higher premiums on auto insurance, (c) reduced credit expectancy or capacity, (d) the considerable expenditure of time, energy and money to remedy the situation, and finally, (e) a significant loss of enjoyment of life. Using standard forensic economic methods, these damages can be valued and claimed in lawsuits against the tortfeasors, many of whom are subject to various consumer protection laws including the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.) and its amendments, and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT).

Various state and federal laws permit a wide variety of claims, including claims for punitive damages. Perhaps the easiest claims to value are the out-of-pocket expense arising from credit damage. The time lost, valued at some reasonable rate, along with out-of-pocket expenses including legal fees etc. can also be easily valued.

Frequently consumers make claims for loss of opportunity, in particular loss of job offers. If a person is offered a job at $45,000 a year and suffers a withdrawal of that offer as a result of credit damage, the loss can be the difference between the lost offer and the next best available alternative, for as many years as the reduced salary can be expected to persist. The loss of opportunity may be more than just a reduction in salary, it may involve a once-in-a-lifetime offer for a position that can never be regained.

Claims can also arise for higher-than-warranted interest costs on credit cards or loans. If a mortgage should have been issued at 4 percent, and the credit damage resulted in a mortgage rate of 6 percent, the two percent difference per annum over the life of the mortgage is a significant sum of money, and can easily be calculated.

Another credit damage claim that can be made is the loss or reduction in credit expectancy. Some consumers simply cannot obtain credit cards or loans at any rate whatsoever and hence cannot make major purchases such as homes, boats, or other assets that require loans, and must carry cash for all lesser purchases. Imagine a world where you cannot buy an airline ticket online or pay for your cell phone usage with a credit card, and where all transactions must be paid for in cash? This loss of credit expectancy can be valued by comparing the rate the consumer might have expected with the highest rate charged by credit card companies, as a floor on the loss of expectancy damages. The loss of credit expectancy is estimated by the cost of credit extended under normal circumstances versus the cost charged to those who are viewed as high credit risks to whom credit is extended, but at the highest rates charged. Normal credit costs are approximately 1

to 1.5 percent per month; the costs charged to high credit risk accounts can run to 3 percent per month or higher. For persons with prior good, or even fair, credit they had the ability to borrow considerable sums beyond his or her diminished credit. I frequently estimate this additional capacity of be at least $100,000, and likely more. This standby credit under normal conditions has a value similar to the value of a safety net for a trapeze artist, or the value of a term life policy for a person who continues to live a healthy life – the value does not depend on the actual use. It is an option, and options have value. In my earlier days, I had a seat on the Chicago board of Trade, formed in 1848 to help farmers manage their options against weather losses, price changes, and other financial ups and downs.

Finally, claims can be made and testimony can be provided for the loss of enjoyment of life, well-recognized in the State of Nevada. (See my article in Vegas Legal, August 2016 “Economic Damages in Nevada) Victims of credit damage frequently report going through protracted emotional turbulence and upset, experiencing significant loss of enjoyment of life.

These damages can persist long after financial restoration is made as in some instances relationships are destroyed as a consequence of the credit damage. The standard process for evaluating the loss of enjoyment of life applies in these instances. Typically, consumers must be interviewed extensively to obtain detailed information about all these losses.

Credit damage and its consequences can arise easily in the lives of virtually any consumer despite public awareness and programs and laws to prevent this. The consequences can be financially and emotionally devastating.

Forensic economists, using standard approaches, can assist in evaluating the losses.

While the filching of one’s good name and the resulting credit damage can arise from a variety of causes - and the consequences can make one very poor indeed - our legal system offers relief and the prospect of significant economic recovery for the aggrieved party.

Stan V. Smith, Ph.D., is president of Smith Economics Group, Ltd. headquartered in Chicago. Trained at the University of Chicago (one of the world’s pre-eminent institutions for the study of economics and the home of the law and economics movement), Smith has also taught at the university and co-authored the first textbook on the subject of economic damages. A nationally-renowned expert in economics who has testified nationwide in personal injury, wrongful death and commercial damages cases, Smith has assisted thousands of law firms in successful results for both plaintiffs and defendants, including the U.S. Department of Justice. To that end, Smith also developed the first course in forensic economics at DePaul University, and pioneered the concept of “hedonic damages,” testifying about the topic in landmark cases. His work has been featured in the ABA Journal, National Law Journal, and on the front page of The Wall Street Journal.

Kyle Lauterhahn is a Senior Economic Analyst at Smith Economics Group in Chicago.

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 29

MEET THE

INCUMBENT – Judge Mark Bailus

I

n 2017, Judge Mark Bailus was appointed by Governor Brian Sandoval to serve in Department 18 of the District Court. He is a graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law and was admitted to the Nevada Bar in 1980. Prior to becoming a judge, Mr. Bailus was a partner at the law firm Bailus Cook & Kelesis, with a focus on civil and criminal litigation and appeals.

Vegas Legal Magazine: What did you do before becoming a judge?

Judge Bailus: I was an attorney for over 37 years and I am one of the relatively few sitting judges who has an extensive background in both civil and criminal law at the trial and appellate levels.

VLM: What is the most memorable case you tried as an attorney before taking the bench?

JB: My most memorable or significant case was not a trial but rather, a complex tort litigation which resulted in a multi-million-dollar settlement. I, along with my former partner Michael Cherry, were lead counsel for all of the personal injury plaintiffs (except for one) and all of the uninsured property damage plaintiffs in the mass tort litigation commonly known as the “PEPCON Explosion Litigation” resulting in a multi-million-dollar settlement for the plaintiffs. A courtroom battle involving dozens of insurance companies and over 50 law firms resulted in a $71 million 1992 settlement with contributions from multiple parties that were divided among insurance companies on subrogation claims as well as the victims and their families. This case was significant to me as, at the time, I was still a fairly young attorney and the defendants had retained many high-powered law firms to defend them. The defendants embarked on a strategy to attempt to overwhelm my clients by filing numerous dismissal and/or summary judgment motions against them to circumvent a trial. Unfortunately for the defendants, their strategy failed. I fought long and hard in defending against the onslaught of pretrial motions filed by the defendants and was successful in defeating the same. As a result, this case was settled with the plaintiffs being fairly compensated for their losses and/or injuries.

VLM: What made you decide to run for judge?

JB: I had been an attorney for over 37 years and it was a new challenge that I was uniquely qualified to undertake due to my many years of experience, knowledge and success as an attorney before the state and federal courts in Nevada in both civil and criminal law.

VLM: What does being a judge mean to you?

JB: Being a judge is an honor and privilege that I very much respect.

It has allowed me to make a difference. As a judge, there is nothing that is going to come before me that I am not prepared to handle. I have endeavored to make rulings based on sound legal reasoning and to draft clear, thoughtful and thorough decisions.

VLM: What is your favorite and least favorite thing about being a judge?

JB: I would say my least favorite thing as a judge is having to run for office. I have always been a straight shooter and this doesn’t always play well in politics. However, I am not going to change as I think the public will appreciate someone who is forthright.

My most favorite thing is the interaction between myself and the litigants who appear before me. I always try to be patient, courteous and respectful to all litigants and most of all, be a good listener.

No matter what my rulings are, I think the litigants appreciate the courtesies I extend to them.

VLM: Describe a situation where you had to support a legal position that conflicted with your personal beliefs? Please tell us how you handled it.

JB: I view a judge’s role is to enforce the laws that have been enacted by the legislature. When I think the law should be changed, I can express that to the legislators and I would be willing to do so and state my reasons.

VLM: What’s your biggest pet peeve caused by attorneys that appear in your courtroom?

JB: I’m not sure this is really a pet peeve, but I am insistent that the attorneys who appear before me are prepared and are civil to each other.

VLM: What is your best piece of advice for litigants and/or attorneys?

JB: As a follow up to the preceding question, I think the best piece of advice I could give to the litigants and attorneys is to be civil to each other and not make personal attacks and further, to have complete candor with the Court.

VLM: What is your passion outside of law?

JB: While I enjoy doing things with my family, I really don’t have any hobbies. I enjoy reading. However, being a judge consumes most of my time as I am either at work or I am constantly reading books and cases related to the law to gain knowledge, so I can make informed decisions. I can’t remember the last time I read a book for pleasure.

VLM: What do you love most about Vegas?

JB: The thing I love most about Las Vegas is the people. I am a longtime resident of Las Vegas with my family first coming here in 1955 and I grew up here and am a graduate of UNLV. I have practiced law in Las Vegas since my admission to the bar in 1980. I returned to [Las Vegas] after graduating from Pepperdine University School of Law to begin my legal career and start my family. Practicing law in Las Vegas has been very rewarding to me professionally. Most importantly, it has given me the opportunity to meet many wonderful people who have been a part of my life.

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 31

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Settles Most Claims In Legal Fight With Former Partner, –By Carol Miller

L

as Vegas-based Wynn Resorts has agreed to pay a total of $2.4 billion to a Japanese gaming company to settle claims involving an involuntary stock redemption that resulted in a six-year-long lawsuit, Wynn Resorts announced. The March 9 settlement, between Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Tokyo-based Universal Entertainment Corp., and Universal’s subsidy, Aruze USA Inc. does not stop the planned April 2018 trial in the case.

Wynn Resort, however, has agreed to pay the sum by March 31, 2018.

Wynn Resorts is still suing Kazuo Okada, a Japanese pachinko king and formerly the largest shareholder in Wynn Resorts, for allegedly breaching his fiduciary duties by engaging in corrupt business practices in his dealings with officials in the Philippines’.

Those allegations of foreign corrupt practices in the Philippines, involving Okada, were used by Wynn Resorts to oust Okada, and his related companies -- Universal Entertainment Aruze USA – from Wynn Resorts.

The “Okada parties,” as the three were referred to in court, had their Wynn Resorts stock forcibly redeemed in February 2012, which resulted in a loss in redemption value of the stock of nearly $2 billion. In addition, Okada’s lawyers argued that another $463.6 million had been lost due to the interest rate at the actual time of the stock redemption note.

Kazuo Okada was also voted off the Wynn board of directors in February 2012, as a result of the corruption claims against him. Okada’s lawyers have long denied any wrongdoing by their client. Universal Entertainment Corp., previously held an almost 20 percent stake in Wynn Resorts through its subsidiary Aruze USA Inc. Wynn Resorts.

Steve Wynn, the founder and then-chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts, became the largest shareholder in the company with the 2012 ouster of his longtime business partner, Kazuo Okada. Steve Wynn resigned as chairman of Wynn Resorts on Feb. 6, 2018, after numerous sexual misconduct allegations against the mogul began surfacing a month

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 36

before, in January. Most notably, the news of a $7.5 million settlement -made in 2005 to an unnamed former Wynn Resorts’ manicurist -- was made public. A February 2018 Bloomberg News report revealed that the settlement involved a paternity claim against Steve Wynn in relation to the manicurist. Bloomberg’s published report said that no child was born of the alleged relationship between Steve Wynn and his employee.

A January 2018 Wall Street Journal report alleged that the same thenWynn Resorts’ manicurist had complained to others at the company that Steve Wynn had pressured her into having sex with him. That claim was vigorously denied in a statement issued by Steve Wynn.

“The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous,” Steve Wynn said in a statement.

Steve Wynn was replaced by Matt Maddox, who has been president of Wynn Resorts since 2013. Maddox had been with the company since 2002.

Steve Wynn’s ex-wife Elaine Wynn joined the lawsuit between Steve Wynn, Wynn Resorts and the Okada entities shortly after the legal battle started.

Elaine Wynn originally sought to have her stockholder agreement with her ex-husband voided. The two agreed, upon divorcing, that Steve would control Elaine’s shares of Wynn’s stock to avoid a hostile takeover of Wynn Resorts. But Elaine wanted out of the agreement shortly after the Wynn Resorts’ legal fight with Okada started.

After Steve Wynn resigned in February, he offered to give Elaine control of her stock back. But Elaine opted to continue the legal fight on that, and other claims, involving Steve Wynn and Wynn Resorts. The case is being heard by Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas.

Wynn Resort, however, has agreed to pay the sum by March 31, 2018.

Though Now Marred In Controversy,

STEVE WYNN Spent Decades Creating The Modern-Day Las Vegas —By Carol Miller

T

he Bellagio. The Mirage. Treasure Island. Wynn Las Vegas. Encore.

These are all are staples of the Las Vegas Strip. They are also all creations of Steve Wynn. The Las Vegas visionary stepped down in February as the chairman and CEO of his namesake, Wynn Resorts, amid sexual misconduct allegations by some who worked for him. But few can deny the indelible mark Steve Wynn has left on Las Vegas.

First coming to Las Vegas in 1967, Steve Wynn bought the controlling interest in the New Frontier Hotel and Casino. In the early 1960s, Wynn has bought a smaller stake in the property, then called the Frontier Hotel and Casino. He would later purchase the Golden Nugget hotelcasino in downtown Las Vegas, and transform it into a luxury resort for high rollers.

That early 1970s purchase of the controlling interest in Las Vegas’ Golden Nugget would pay off big time for Wynn. After he renovated the resort into a four-diamond property and later sold it for $440 million, according to Business Insider.

In 1983, Wynn opened the Golden Nugget Atlantic City to build on the brand’s success.

which erupted at certain times along the Strip. Steve Wynn hah ushered in the era of “themed resorts,” which would be followed up by his Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in 1993. The latter would be later sold and renamed the “TI” or the “Treasure Island TI Hotel and Casino.”

Visitors to the Las Vegas Strip can still be treated to pirate fights and volcanos as they walk down the most-famous boulevard in the world.

The Paris Las Vegas, though not a Steve Wynn creation, owes its inspiration to the branding-themed trend started by the Las Vegas visionary.

Other themed hotel-casinos properties in Las Vegas include the Excalibur, the Luxor, Mandalay Bay and the (formerly named) Monte Carlo.

The Hits just kept on Coming Steve Wynn just kept improving on his own personal best, when it came to new resort development in Las Vegas.

When Wynn sold The Golden Nugget in the late 1980s for $440 million, he used that money to build the type of property the likes of which Las Vegas had never seen before: The Mirage.

The 1998 opening of the $1.6 billion Bellagio included an artificial lake and a gallery that housed fine works of art. The Bellagio spearheaded the resurgence of Las Vegas as a luxury destination for wealthy travelers in the late 1990s and into the 2000s.

The Mirage Resort was complete with a spectacular manmade volcano,

“Estimated to have cost around $1.6 billion, the resort is undoubtedly

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 39

STEVE WYNN one of the world’s most spectacular hotels,” according to the site, Biogrpahy.com.

Wynn sold his Mirage Resorts to Kirk Kerkorian for $6.4 billion in 2000, but by then his company had become the target of a takeover.

Nevertheless, Wynn didn’t stay out of the casino game for long. He soon became plans for his most expensive property yet, the $2.7 billion Wynn Las Vegas, on the spot of what was the famed Desert Inn. To some criticism, Wynn had bought, and later imploded, the beloved and iconic Las Vegas resort.

But as with much of Las Vegas history, well, the city just don’t have much interest in history. It’s out with the old buildings, and in with the new buildings. As a result, the Wynn Las Vegas opened in 2005. The glitziest of the glitzy hotels in Las Vegas, the Wynn appealed to high rollers from around the world.

Steve Wynn was far from done, as was noted in an article on the mogul in biography.com: “A year later (in 2006), he opened Wynn Macau in the largest gaming jurisdiction in Asia. He went on to add the Encore Las Vegas and Encore Macau to his collection of resorts.”

A 2005 Vanity Fair magazine article, by Nina Munk, talked about what Steve Wynn meant to the development of modern Las Vegas.

“He wasn’t the first to transform casinos into family-friendly spectacles—Jay Sarno’s Caesars Palace and Circus Circus did that in the 1960s—but Wynn took the concept to a whole new level,” Munk wrote.

In that same Vanity Fair piece, Steve Wynn himself tried to single out what made his creations so memorable. “A lot of places in Las Vegas are big boxes of stuff,” Wynn said in 2005. “The hotels I’ve built have had, for lack of a better term, a soul.”

“The skyline of Las Vegas is Steve Wynn,” said William Thompson, a professor emeritus of public administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas toBloomberg News upon hearing that Steve Wynn stepped down as chairman and CEO on Feb. 9th.

The Face of Las Vegas Casino Gaming

Hotel-Casino. And then there was Benny Binion, who threated to kill those who crossed him, she wrote in her article, “The Great Casino Salesman.”

Steve Wynn appeared to have a clean reputation back then. That was something that helped to make his case for making Las Vegas a “family friendly” destination. (Yes, that was again a popular idea for rebranding Las Vegas in the 1990s and early 2000s).

But Steve Wynn also was intriguing. He is battling a degenerative eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa, which he was diagnosed with in 1971.

The disease will cause him to progressively lose more of his sight.

However, Wynn never let his condition get in the way of his plans.

In 2001, the Time reporter summed up Steve Wynn this way: “What Las Vegas has instead (of past ‘characters’) is Steve Wynn, a casino king who is the son of a compulsive gambler and has an eye disease that could make him blind; who in his late 30s took up steer roping, wind surfing, rock climbing, motocrossing, jet skiing and body building; who once called Donald Trump ‘twinkle toes’; who let Frank Sinatra pinch his cheek in a commercial for his casinos; who divorced his wife (Elaine Wynn), never moved out and remarried herfive years later; and who shot off his index finger two years ago (in 1999) while handling a pistol in his office,” Painton wrote.

Of course, a few updates are needed to that take: Steve Wynn would go on to divorce Elaine again in 2010, following their remarriage in 1991.

In 2011, he would marry Andrea Hisson.

Twist and Turns Resulted in a Las Vegas Legend Steve Wynn, who was born Stephen Alan Weinberg on Jan. 27, 1942, in New Haven, Connecticut. As a boy, Steve’s father, Michael, changed the family’s last name to “Wynn.” Michael Wienberg (later named “Michael Wynn”) operated a string of bingo parlors in the eastern United States, including Maryland.

Steve was afforded a very comfortable childhood due to his father’s bingo parlor business. Steve attended a private boys’ school, and later the University of Pennsylvania, according to the site Biogrpahy.com.

National media always wanted to talk to Steve Wynn. He became the face of Las Vegas gaming – the city’s own sort of royalty. In a 2001 Time Magazine article, writer Priscilla Painton wrote that Wynn was “gentrifying” gambling.

But Steve’s father Michael died while only in his 40s of heart problems, in 1963. Michael’s early death left the Wynn family with $350,000 in debts. Michael had also developed a gambling addiction. Steve’s younger brother, Ken, was only 10 years old at the time of his father’s passing.

Wynn appeared to be quite different from what the rest of the country had come to expect from Las Vegas casino operators. They had been “characters.” There was the gangster Bugsy Siegel and his Flamingo

Steve Wynn, who went on the graduate the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in literature, took over the family’s gambling business at age 21. Steve Wynn made good on his father’s outstanding

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STEVE WYNN debts, according to biography.com.

Steve Wynn passed up on a spot at Yale Law School to take over his father’s bingo parlors, according to his biography on The Famous People’s website. Michael never wanted his son Steve to follow his footsteps into the gaming business. Under Steve Wynn’s control, the family business was again profitable.

Wife Elaine was instrumental in helping Steve build his empire. The two were first married in 1963, and have two grown daughters – Kevyn and Gillian. Elaine, who was a beauty queen, split with Steve in 1986.

The two stayed close and remarried.

Elaine has built a reputation in Las Vegas not only as a businesswoman, but also as a philanthropist and art collector.

The couple did remarry in 1991, only to divorce again in 2010. The divorce was amicable, but the battle after the divorce was brutal. The couple became caught up in a bitter legal battle over Elaine’s earlier agreement to let Steve control her Wynn Resorts Ltd. stock.

The “War of the Wynn,” as Bloomberg News called it, only had some sort of an armistice in mid-March of this year, as Steve and Elaine seemed to finally end their six-year-old fight over $4 billion in Wynn Resorts stock.

In a filing on March 15th, Wynn Resorts Ltd. said that the Wynns -who together control 21 percent of the company -- told a Las Vegas court (Clark County District Court) that they no longer consider a 2010 (stock) agreement between them valid, Bloomberg News reported.

That agreement frees both of the ex-spouses to sell their shares of the company. But Elaine Wynn still has other claims pending in a Las Vegas court against Steve Wynn and Wynn Resorts, in connection to her lost board of directors’ seat in 2015.

A Close Call with Tragedy Strikes Steve Wynn The Wynns have weathered a few storms together. A crisis struck Steve Wynn and his family on July 26, 1993, when the Wynns’ daughter Kevyn Wynn was kidnapped. Kevyn, then 26, was taken at gunpoint from her home and held for ransom. Steve Wynn paid $1.45 million in ransom money the same day, and later found his daughter safe in her own car at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

The two kidnappers were soon apprehended after one of them tried to use $70,000 the cash he got from Wynn as down payment on $183,000 Ferrari at a California dealership. That was only a week after the kidnapping, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Wynn paid the $1.45 million ransom with cash from the casino cage at The Mirage, then his flagship resort, according to Las Vegas Review-

Journal and othernews accounts at that time. Steve Wynn dropped the money off in the parking lot of Sonny’s Saloon, which was a block from the Mirage. Steve Wynn did not notify the authorities to the kidnapping until after he had paid the ransom.

In May 1994, a federal jury convicted Ray Mario Cuddy and an accomplice, Jacob Sherwood, of extortion, money laundering and other charges stemming from the kidnapping. Cuddy was released in 2015, and Sherwood was set free in 2010, according to the R-J. The Allegations, and the Aftermath On Jan. 26, of this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that a $7.5 million payment was involved in allegations that Steve Wynn had pressured a Wynn Resorts’ manicurist into having sex with him. A subsequent story, by Bloomberg News, reported that the payout had involved a paternity claim against Wynn, although no child was said to have been born out of the alleged relationship.

While Wynn has denied any wrongdoing, but he resigned the following day from his post as finance chair of the Republican National Committee.

“Effective today I’m resigning as finance chairman of the RNC,” Wynn said at the time. “The unbelievable success we have achieved must continue. The work we are doing to make America a better place is too important to be impaired by this distraction.”

Meanwhile, regulators in Nevada, Massachusetts and Macau had already began probing the allegations, Bloomberg News reported.

The continual drip of bad publicity involving Steve Wynn seemed to make his resignation from Wynn Resorts inevitable. The day before Wynn’s resignation from his company, another damaging story was published. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported details of a 1998 lawsuit by cocktail waitresses at Wynn’s previous company, Mirage Resorts.

The R-J story involved one former server who said she also felt Steve Wynn forced her to have sex with her to keep her employment. Wynn declined to comment on that report, but the mounting allegations proved too much. He resigned the next day.

Since the February resignation of Steve Wynn, more women have come forward with claims of sexual misconduct against the former casino executive. And this presents both a moral and economic quandary for the city Steve Wynn did so much to shape.

The Steve Wynn name has become synonymous with modern Las Vegas. That fact seems unlikely to change in the near future, as evidenced by his name continuing to adorn the Strip skyline he helped design.

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COVER STORY

GOLDEN KNIGHTS Hockey Scores Big In Las Vegas —By Valerie Miller

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creaming chants of “Fleury! Fleury!” for Vegas Golden Knights goalie Marc-André Fleury, echo throughout the T-Mobile Area during a recent Golden Knights hockey game. A man in a full-armor knight outfit visits the capacity crowd, looking like a knight who just escaped a dinner show at the nearby Excalibur hotel-casino. Fans, dressed up for different eras of music, compete for prizes during timeouts. The crowd then goes crazy when the Golden Knights score during a faceoff with the National Hockey League’s Calgary Flames.

Yes, big-time hockey has come to Las Vegas, and it has found success in spades. The Vegas Golden Knights, a dream of owner Bill Foley, have the best record of any expansion team in the history of major league sports (not just hockey). At one point in February, Las Vegas odds makers even put the Golden Knights as a favorite to win the NHL Stanley Cup championship.

The success is more than most Las Vegans hoped for. Heck, local sports fans were just thrilled to have any big league team to call their own. Most expansion teams downright stink in their first few seasons, and fans accept their teams’ woes as growing pains. But the Golden Knights were born ready to win, including an emotional home opener on Oct. 10, after the 1 October mass shooting on the Strip.

Few fans – or those in the sports world – predicted the unheralded success on the ice of the Golden Knights. A mix of tourists and locals fill up the 17,500 -seat T-Mobile Area, even on most weeknights. (The venue has different seating capacities for various events but can hold 17,500 for hockey games).

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The Making of a Hockey Dream Team in the Desert Steve Sisolak, chairman of the Clark County Commission and now a candidate for Nevada governor, was instrumental in bringing both an NHL team to Las Vegas (in the Golden Knights) and an NFL franchise (with the Oakland Raiders’ planned 2020 motive to the valley).

“I got involved with the ticket drive (for a proposed NHL team in Las Vegas),” Sisolak recalls. “The NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, didn’t believe we could sell all those tickets.

“I remember writing the first check for season tickets,” the county commission chairman continues.

That ticket drive resulted in the sale of 16,000 season tickets before a Las Vegas team ever took the ice. That helped persuade the NHL that Vegas would support a professional hockey team.

“This is a truly historic event for the Las Vegas community, the NHL and all of our fans,” Golden Knights Owner Bill Foley was quoted by NBCSports. com as saying in the fall of 2016, after Las Vegas was awarded an NHL franchise.

The national sports world raised a few eyebrows at the reality of the NHL team in Sin City: “Jackpot: Vegas expansion team sells out season tickets,” was the headline run by NBCSports.com on Sept. 19, 2016.

In the same article, James O’Brien wrote: “It still feels a little surreal that

GOLDEN KNIGHTS there’s really going to be an NHL team in Las Vegas, but Bill Foley & Co. continue to hit some significant milestones.”

Sisolak recalls the grassroots effort by hockey backers to get the tickets sold, even before an NHL franchise was awarded to Foley – and Las Vegas.

“They went to bars, and everyplace people gathered, to explain what hockey was and sell tickets,” he says. “They were all over the place, at all the events.”

Despite his enthusiasm and support for bringing an NHL team to Las Vegas, the county commission chairman didn’t anticipate the huge fan support the Golden Knights have since received in Southern Nevada.

“It’s filled to capacity. It is standing-room only,” Sisolak says. “I try to go to as many games as possible.”

Vegas has tried its Luck with the Puck Before Longtime local sports reporter Steve Carp, who covers the Golden Knights for the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper, is impressed with the new hockey team, and not surprised by its popularity.

Carp, who has been covering sports in Las Vegas for 30 years, points to the earlier successes of two (now-defunct) local professional hockey teams – the Las Vegas Thunder and the Las Vegas Wranglers. The Thunder and the Wranglers, while pro teams, were not at the highest level in the sport -- the National Hockey League.

Las Vegas Thunder played in the International Hockey League from 1993 to 1999, with the Thomas & Mack Center serving as its home ice.

Longtime residents still wear ’90s’ era Thunder jerseys, and talk fondly of the Thunder’s polar bear mascot.

Later, the Las Vegas Wranglers filled the hockey void left by the Thunder’s demise. The Wranglers were part of what was formerly the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) and, like the Golden Knights, were a Vegas expansion franchise.

The Wranglers played at the Orleans Arena from their debut in 2003 through the end of the 2013-2014 season, when their lease expired. In 2008, the Wranglers played in the Kelly Cup finals (the ECHL version of the Stanley Cup), but lost to the Cincinnati Cyclones. When the Wranglers was unable to come to terms with the Orleans in 2014, the team suspended operations. Unable to find a new home, the Wranglers later withdrew from the ECHL. “When you had the Thunder and the Wranglers, there wasn’t a lack of fan support that caused the teams to fold. They both had problems with their landlords,” Carp recalls. “The Thunder couldn’t work out a deal with the Thomas & Mack, and the Wranglers had problems with the Orleans.”

The popularity of hockey in Las Vegas was also evident in the demand for Los Angeles Kings tickets, whenever the Kings played NHL games in

Vegas, Carp adds “But this is different (than the Kings),” he notes. “If your dad takes you, as a 7- or 8-year-old kid, to a fast-paced (Golden Knights) game, it is easy to fall in love with it. It’s your city’s team.”

Of course, there’s that one important ingredient to any sports’ team’s success: “The winning has a lot to do with it,” Carp says. “Let’s not kid ourselves.”

Vegas Golden Knights Strong Las Vegas’ NHL franchise’s October 10th home debut should have been full of all the glitz and spectacle fitting the Entertainment Capital of the World.

Those plans changed, however, when the unthinkable happened on Oct. 1, 2017. Stephen Paddock, a Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino guest, opened fire on more than 20,000 concert goers on the Las Vegas Strip, killing 58 and injuring more than 500.

Bill Foley, and the Vegas Golden Knights, stepped up to show the mourning community how much they cared. A moving tribute to first responders, and victims, replaced a spectacular opening night celebration.

“The community fell in love with the tribute to the first responders,” Sisolak says. “They had the names of all the victims on the ice.”

The Golden Knights’ home opener tribute to the first responders, and shooting victims, moved the city. The gesture transcended hockey fandom, and wins or losses.

Fields – and Stadiums – of Dreams Big league sports, and the venues that are built around them, can re-invent a city, as the Brooklyn Dodgers did when they moved to Los Angeles in 1958.

The team first played in the Los Angeles Coliseum. Later, the construction of Dodger Stadium at Chavez Ravine is credited for transforming modern Los Angeles into what it is today.

KXNT Las Vegas radio show host Alan Stock grew up in Southern California and remembers the changes brought about by the Dodgers’ move to the City of Angels.

But when looking at the Raiders’ planned 65,000-seat domed stadium, with construction costs estimated at $1.9 billion, he is not so thrilled. Lack of adequate stadium parking -- along with the hefty public tab of $750 million from the hotel and motel room tax -- are Stock’s main concerns.

“I don’t think the Raiders are paying enough,” the talk show host says.

But Stock can’t say enough good things about the Golden Knights.

“They have excited the whole valley, and become part of the community,” Stock praises.

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GOLDEN KNIGHTS

“The Golden Knights have not taken anything from the community. They have only given to the community. That is going to be a tough act for the Raiders to follow.”

–Steve Carp

Likewise, as the Golden Knights’ beat reporter, Carp has seen firsthand how important the hockey team has become both on -- and off – the ice.

“The guys were giving blood after the (1 October) shooting,” Carp remembers. “They let the community know, ‘Hey, we won’t just forget about this in a week. We are with you.’”

Team owner Bill Foley, a West Point military academy graduate and longtime local, “gave $1 million to the (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s) foundation,” Carp points out. “The Golden Knights have not taken anything from the community. They have only given to the community. That is going to be a tough act for the Raiders to follow.”

Professional baseball, in the form of the Triple A Las Vegas 51s, was among the first professional sports franchises to take a gamble on the city.

Debuting as the Las Vegas Stars in 1983, the now-51s will get a massive upgrade in 2019.

The baseball club has always played at the now-aging Cashman Field, in downtown Las Vegas. Now, finally, the team will get new digs. The 51s will be moving to a new, $150 million open-air stadium in Summerlin. The club will play there, beginning in the 2019 season.

Alan Snel, the founder of the sports business news site, LVSportsBiz.com, points to the economic impact of the new 51s’ stadium.

“They are going from an old, decrepit ballpark to what will be one of the most beautiful ballparks in the county,” he says.

Cashman has also become the home to the professional soccer team, the Las Vegas Lights. Soon, the WNBA Aces will make Mandalay Bay their home and begin play in Las Vegas.

As the teams serve diverse market segments, Snel predicts enough room for all the sports franchises to succeed, for now.

“They all have carved out their own niches. We have moved from a one-off sports-event town to a sports-team town,” he said.

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As a reporter who covered the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels basketball team in their heyday, when the team won an NCAA championship in 1990, Carp also sees a transformation.

“We went from a college-sports town to a professional-sports town,” Carp sums up.

Sisolak views the growth of professional sports in the city as a step forward, with every addition of a team, event, or venue, being progress. The Golden Knights debut, along with the Raiders’ planned move to Las Vegas, are among the biggest building blocks in transforming the city.

“We have NASCAR, we have the Aces, the Lights, a new 51s stadium in Summerlin, along with the T-Mobile Arena and the Golden Knights,” the county commission chairman lists. “The Raiders’ stadium will reinforce that Las Vegas is the entertainment – and sports – capital of the world.”

Economically, Sisolak says the city will also benefit from increased tourism dollars.

“People might come for one or two nights, but stay that extra third or fourth night, he predicts. “They will fill those hotel beds, and keep people coming to the casinos.”

But for the close to 17,000 (mostly-screaming) fans at each Golden Knights game at the T-Mobile Arena, economic data is the last thing on their minds.

A high-scoring game, the excitement of “a fight!” and plenty of jerseybuying afterward, were all part of the recent Vegas Golden Knights’ experience.

When learning that a local fan was attending their first game, a visiting tourist from Calgary was quick to praise the home-town Knights.

“You picked a great game,” she said, “and you have quite a team!”

Valerie Miller can be reached at (702) 683-3986 or valeriemusicmagic@yahoo.com

Las Vegans Chime In On

Golden Knights Fever –By Howard Reill

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“It has been phenomenal,” says Joseph Ganley, Senior Partner with Hutchison & Steffen, LLC. “We are enjoying having the Golden Knights in Las Vegas more than we ever anticipated.”

Dr. Renee Coffman, President of Roseman University of Health Sciences, believes the Golden Knights are “different in that they are not a transplant like the (Oakland) Raiders. They’re our own home-grown, from-scratch team that we can claim without any dilution from a former home city.

They are also bringing tons of fans from the opposing team into town, particularly Canadians. I think the whole atmosphere around the Knights has been electric.”

On a grander scale, Ganley continues, “It means we are a Big League city now. Most of us knew we had the potential to embrace big league professional sports, but now it has manifested far beyond those expectations.”

Sheila Kercher, Executive Director of Marketing for the Silverton Casino, points out that “When you go to a game there are always a fair amount of visiting team fans. It makes for another great reason to come to Las Vegas; it’s a win-win for both locals and visitors.”

“It’s been amazing for the city and our locals,” agrees Lou D’Angeli, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for Cirque du Soleil. “Being a hockey fan and knowing how players touch the community and influence kids to play, learn team sports, not have an ego, is amazing for everyone to experience. The atmosphere is unreal and top of the league for sure. They have done an amazing job creating something very special for Las Vegas.”

The NHL’s presence also helps solve an issue the city has been grappling with, Kercher adds. “We’ve been trying to figure out, as a city, what to do as less and less people are gambling, and I think this is a great way to keep tourists coming into our city and spending money.”

hat the NHL’s Golden Knights’ arrival means most of all to many in Las Vegas’ legal and business communities is, in one way or another, a sense of legitimacy.

“The Golden Knights have been the most exciting civic development since I moved to town in 2011,” explains Glenn H. Truitt, a partner in Ideal Business Partners. “I’ve been to eight games and watched a dozen more with friends. It’s nice to have an identity that doesn’t involve the Strip, casinos, etc.”

“Everything about Vegas Golden Knights has been first class,” agrees Tami Belt, owner and CEO of Blue Cube Marketing Solutions. “I love that Las Vegas is being seen as more than Sin City and returning to the Entertainment Capital of the World.”

Says Patty Wade, President of Wade Development Company, Inc. and Wade Consulting Group, LLC, “We are huge Golden Knights fans, season ticket holders in the lower bowl who fly down from Reno/Lake Tahoe for about 90% of home games… along with following the Knights on the road whenever possible.” She lauds the Knights’ management for being “exceptionally fan-friendly, hosting several events for the community early on and allowing liberal access to the players.”

“Our whole city is an underdog story, and now our first major professional sports team is one, too,” Truitt suggests. “Before the Knights, Las Vegas was the largest U.S. city without a major pro sports franchise. It was a big missing piece of our civic identity, and it kept it from feeling like we’re a real American city.”

Adds Zach Miles, Director of the Nevada Small Business Development Center at UNLV and Executive Director for the UNLV Research Foundation, the team’s arrivals means the city has “grown up, we are showing unity. It has helped business to grow and drives economic development.”

“We are the entertainment capital,” D’Angeli concludes. “Cirque du Soleil has the best the shows in the world, and partnering with a team this great, with involvement from a 360º perspective, we continue to grow our market and our fans.”

Howard Riell is a veteran journalist who over the past 39 years has written and edited for nearly 200 business and consumer publications, national trade associations, advertising/PR agencies, newspapers, research firms, newsletters, non‑profit groups, e‑zines, blogs, manufacturers and other clients across the country and abroad. He lives in Henderson.

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Business Report

51 // VLM’s Black Book 55 // Public Speaking 59 // Cryptocurrency Enforcement 61 // Reviewing Societal Mores 62 // 2018 Jaguar XJ 64 // State Of The Market

“If you can’t fly then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”

– Martin Luther King Jr.

Public Speaking Do’s & Don’ts From Speakers In The Valley –By Howard Riell

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“

ll great speakers,” Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “were bad speakers at first.” But even attorneys who aren’t bad speakers can become, if not great, at least better. Here’s how.

Las Vegas criminal attorney Nick Wooldridge, founder of LV Criminal Defense, says there are no “tips” on public speaking that apply to all occasions. “We use the same rules of speech when we’re speaking in a courtroom, at an awards ceremony, talking to our best friend, or out on a date.” In fact, the occasion, or venue, “determines which of the public speaking rules we pull out. The dilemma with most people when it comes to speaking in public is the tendency to over-complicate.”

“The important do of public speaking is to stay on topic,” says Jason P. Stoffel of Roberts Stoffel Family Law Group, “so if the topic is about substance abuse, don’t throw in politics. If the topic is tort reform, don’t talk about how great you are as a speaker. An audience has come to see the speaker, so staying on topic is always best.” Stoffel also urges speakers to maintain eye contact as much as possible and look around the room.

“Make everyone in the audience feel important, not just front and center attendees.”

An important don’t, Stoffel continues, is to not offend anyone. “If the speech is on the importance of life insurance or annuities, don’t insult the crowd and say they are idiots for not having a particular product or service. Also, don’t ramble on and waste time.”

Charlie Harary, a professional speaker and attorney, as well as Clinical Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at the Syms School of Business at Yeshiva University and Senior Director of Capital Markets at RXR Realty, identifies six keys for speaking publicly: 1. Prepare. “Make sure you are fully prepared before you get up there.”

2. Relax. “Most of what your audience is looking for is an experience; a tense speaker ruins it for them. Regardless of what you are saying, if you

are more relaxed it will be accepted better by your audience.”

3. Be Personal. “It is so much better to tell a story from your life, even if it may not be as dramatic than something else you don’t personally connect to. People want to connect to you personally.”

4. Eye contact. “If you have to read from a script, fine. But practice it enough times so you could make eye contact. No one wants to look at the top of someone’s head as they read though a speech.”

5. Speak slowly. “Naturally, as the fear kicks in, people tend to speak quickly. Quick speeches are difficult to process. It’s better to slow down and give people a chance to understand than to whiz though it.”

6. Smile. “Enjoy yourself. Even if you are nervous, smiling produces relaxation hormones. It also shows the audience that you’re having a good time which then puts them in a better mood.”

Jennifer Hadley Catero, a partner and Co-Chair of Financial Services Litigation and Commercial Litigation for Snell & Wilmer, LLP, advises those standing in front of a crowd to always “be thoroughly prepared, such that you are very comfortable with the subject matter. Familiarity with your subject matter will help you speak more extemporaneously, as opposed to delivering a memorized or overly-rehearsed speech or presentation.”

A speaker’s manner should be conversational, Catero adds, “so vary the inflection of your voice, smile, laugh where appropriate. Also, don’t put the entirety of your speech or presentation in your PowerPoint if you are using one. If the audience can read the entirety of your remarks on the screen they have no need to listen to what you are saying.”

Indeed, making the audience feel they absolutely need to hear what you say may just be the most important tip of all.

Howard Riell is a veteran journalist who over the past 39 years has written and edited for nearly 200 business and consumer publications, national trade associations, advertising/PR agencies, newspapers, research firms, newsletters, non‑profit groups, e‑zines, blogs, manufacturers and other clients across the country and abroad. He lives in Henderson.

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IRS CRYPTOCURRENCY ENFORCEMENT IS COMING – By Donovan Thiessen, CPA

There are now daily headlines about the rise and fall of cryptocurrency

prices. Upon release in 2009 and through 2010 Bitcoin was trading for pennies and trading volume was 5,000 transactions per month. By 2013, trading volume exceeded 1,000,000 per month and the unit price went from $13 to $1,200 before settling around $700. Then, in spring 2017, with May flowers and huge momentum in the market, with the Bitcoin unit price rose to almost $20,000 by year’s end and trading volume exceeded 10,000,000 transactions per day. Bitcoin led the way for thousands of cryptocurrency “altcoins” and the rising tide lifted all boats. It did not go unnoticed by the IRS that many millionaires were spawned over the last few years. This article is an update on IRS reporting compliance issues for investors and traders of these digital assets.

have $30,000 cash, prompting a cryptocurrency sale now to pay for the tax. That $30,000 sale is a taxable event itself, generating even more tax for 2018 that requires planning for an estimated tax payment.

So, you may need to sell $35,000 to cover tax payments for both years. Only with accurate record keeping can you plan effectively.

There may also be a foreign asset disclosure requirement depending on which exchange you’re using. If the exchange you’re trading on is in a foreign country and your account balance exceeds $10,000 at any point in a tax year, you may be required to disclose detailed account information on your income tax return. Failure to report this information can result in a hefty penalty of 50% of the account balance.

The IRS issued its only guidance on this topic in 2014 (Notice 2014-21) and remained silent until November 2017, when it summoned the popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to disclose information on more than 14,000 users. Even more recently, Coinbase is complying with issuing Form 1099-K for customers who have received more than 200 receipt transactions or greater than $20,000 during the year. This primarily relates to accounts being used for business. The IRS knows people are generating massive wealth in this market and it is expected that it will not only be coming for its tax revenue but also issuing more guidance for tax reporting. The following is what you generally need to know to comply for income tax purposes.

The IRS summons of Coinbase customers who transferred Bitcoin from 2013 to 2015 is considered an active investigation. According to Coinbase and the IRS this customer pool exceeds 14,000 and only 800 to 900 taxpayers reported gains related to bitcoin in each of the aforementioned tax years. The suggestion here is that many Coinbase users may not be reporting their Bitcoin gains. There may be reprieve of penalties associated with noncompliance for these taxpayers by filing “Qualifed Amended Returns.” This is hoped to be addressed in future IRS guidance but it is wise to at least look into the use of the IRS voluntary disclosure policy to get yourself into compliance for prior and current periods.

You must be diligent in your record keeping. IRS Notice 2014-21 classified virtual currency, aka cryptocurrency, as property subject to capital gains and losses. This means that a taxable event occurs any time you buy, sell, exchange or use these assets to purchase products or services.

Specifically, if you purchased 1 bitcoin for $300 and you sell it for $500, you have a taxable gain of $200. If you traded it for a $1,300 bicycle, you have a taxable gain of $1,000. If you traded it for 75 units of Litecoin valued at $5,500, you have taxable gain of $5,300. And, for individuals who bought in recent months, it is possible that losses were incurred.

This article is necessarily brief and doesn’t cover concepts like forking (like a stock split), digital wallets, mining activities, initial coin offerings, theft and casualty losses suffered from online theft. The immediate concern is income tax enforcement and guidance to be issued by the IRS. In general, the IRS has increased third party reporting requirements in recent years and I believe that this is on the horizon for digital asset transactions. In other words, expect the exchanges to eventually be required to report cost and sale information on 1099’s.

Never forget that all income is taxable unless the IRS says otherwise.

If you sat down in front of an accountant today, he or she would ask you to provide your current inventory and cost basis for each type of asset that you own. That data is used to prepare an accounting report that is used to calculate your gain or loss. In my experience, traders have hundreds or even thousands of trades and scant workpapers as support. With that said, an entire history is needed; every single transaction to determine your gain or loss.

**This information is of a general nature and based on authorities that are subject to change. Your specific situation should be determined by consulting a tax advisor. Nothing in this article should be construed as investment advice, and any tax advice is not intended to be used to avoid tax penalties in any way.

Many traders are also sitting on massive wealth that hasn’t yet been converted to US dollars. For example, some traders may have a resulting tax of $30,000 due for the 2017 tax return, but they don’t

Donovan Thiessen, CPA has worked for Gerety & Associates, CPAs in Las Vegas, Nevada for 10 years, focusing on trust and estate, and individual and business income taxation. The firm has substantial experience in estate planning and can handle complex transactions. You may reach Donovan at dthiessen@geretycpa.com and 702.933.2213.

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg.59

REVIEWING SOCIETAL MORES In A Time Of

High Sexual Impropriety –By Howard Reill

Everyone agrees the societal mores regarding sexual impropriety have changed in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein and subsequent scandals, but no one seems quite sure how – or how to react to it. And as every attorney knows, uncertainty invites danger.

“The rules haven’t necessarily changed, but the stakes have been raised,” says Swen Prior, a partner in the Las Vegas office of Snell & Wilmer LLP. “That said, the #MeToo movement is a wakeup call to all employers, including ‘C suite’ executives, about the importance of following the rules and avoiding even the appearance of impropriety.”

Now more than ever, Prior continues, employers need to deal with harassment claims quickly and thoroughly “in a way that protects the victims and encourages timely and good faith reporting of misconduct.

In the #MeToo era, less severe indiscretions are being lumped in with the vile and illegal. This amalgamation creates problems for employers and employees because the court of public opinion is quick to judge, and is decidedly not good at separating out the distinctions.”

Workplace sexual harassment rules and policies are far from new of course, “however, many harassers believed that they were above the rules and used multiple threats to hide their behavior, including threatening job security,” notes Christian J. Gabroy of Gabroy Law Offices in Henderson.

“Employees should be aware that it is unlawful for an employer to retaliate against an employee for complaining about harassment internally, within the company, or externally with a state or federal agency.” Gabroy’s associate, Liza Aronson, believes that the rules will now be enforced, with workplace policies more likely to have a “zero tolerance,” and a more stringent reporting system within the business.

“In my business, I am ensuring that all employees are aware of their rights and protections under the law,” says Gabroy. “Too often, we see employees come to our office who have been taken advantage of and/or fear retribution, by their employers. I know the contours of the law, and my objective is to ensure that all employees in Nevada can maintain a safe and hostile free work environment.”

Gabroy recommends employers confirm that existing policies are current, written somewhere easily accessible to employees, and that a proper internal reporting structure is in place so they can act swiftly and appropriately when an issue does arise. “I also advise fair, prompt investigations with appropriate corrective measures.”

“The biggest things that I see changing in this new environment are, one,

companies are less likely to brush off borderline incidents, and two, more women feel empowered to file complaints without fear of being retaliated against,” says Henderson-based attorney Avi Cutler, Practice Group Leader for Ballon, Stoll Bader & Nadler, PC. What Cutler calls the “real question” is whether this will produce lasting change “or if it will slowly return to an era where a woman bringing a sexual harassment claim that doesn’t involve assault becomes a social pariah for standing up.”

While most employers have an anti-harassment policy in place, it should be reviewed and updated. Even if there are no major changes to the law since the policy’s last review, “other important societal changes -- for instance, the prevalence of social media use and handling complaints about off-duty sexual conduct -- may need to be addressed,” notes Ronald J. Stolkin, of counsel, Stolkin, Ballard Spahr LLP. “Make sure all employees have received the policy and acknowledged its receipt in writing.”

Among a host of other recommendations, Stolkin advises companies take a firm stand on retaliation. “Clearly and unequivocally set forth the company’s ‘zero-tolerance’ policy regarding retaliation and the severe consequences that will result to anyone who retaliates against an employee who has reported, opposed or participated in an investigation into harassment or discrimination.”

As for activities in colleges and universities, the Obama administration used Title IX to push colleges into aggressively going after students accused of sexual misconduct, notes Nick Wooldridge of LV Criminal Defense, including engaging in sexual activities that may have seemed consensual at the time, but which were later classified as rape because the girl involved was too drunk to consent. “There were concerns that the changes went too far and deprived the accused of due process, and the Trump administration is looking to change some of the policies put in place at the time.”

However, Wooldridge adds, because of Title IX changes, a cultural shift has begun to take place where there is a societal belief that victims should be believed rather than doubted. “This is a good thing, especially in light of the long history in this country of essentially putting accusers on trial in sex crimes cases. But it’s important to remember that those who are accused have rights, too.”

Howard Riell is a veteran journalist who over the past 39 years has written and edited for nearly 200 business and consumer publications, national trade associations, advertising/PR agencies, newspapers, research firms, newsletters, non‑profit groups, e‑zines, blogs, manufacturers and other clients across the country and abroad. He lives in Henderson.

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THE 2018 JAGUAR XJ –By Rick Nelson

A diamond in a sea of sameness.

There probably isn’t a better way to describe the 2018 Jaguar XJ sedan.

These days, the large luxury segment is crowded with many great vehicles, but no one can say that any one of them is truly remarkable. That is, until your eyes come upon the breathtaking 2018 Jaguar XJ. From the outside, your breath is taken away by the beautiful modern British body sculpting. Underneath the glossy paint is an aircraft-grade monocoque aluminum structure that is not only light weight but extremely safe. This type of build also adds improvements to mileage and enhances the driving experience for a more nimble and quieter ride than its steel competitors.

As for the interior, any Anglophile will be brought to tears with the XJ’s hand stitched premium leather and chrome finishes. Those hot Las Vegas summer days in July just got a lot easier to drive through because the Jaguar XJ will have you engulfed in style and class with chrome air conditioning vents covered in condensation keeping you cooled in the hottest of heat.

Imagine for a moment your cooled hands gripping the leather steering wheel while you smile driving through the desert in perfect comfort and luxury, isolated from everything just enough to want to stay in the car all day. Your only disappointment will come when you realize you’re just minutes away from home and have to put her away for the day. Driving will never be the same once you’ve gotten behind the wheel of the 2018 Jaguar XJ.

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STATE MARKET Of The

–By Mark Martiak

U

p until February 12th, the stock market during the month of February was considerably wild. With the recent sell-off and spike in volatility, what does that mean for the rest of the year?

First Quarter Happenings U.S. stocks fell sharply on Monday February 5th, as the S&P 500 slumped over 5% for its largest weekly slide since January 2016, ending a record stretch of extremely low volatility. Investors’ inflation fears were the primary catalyst for the sell-off that week. The S&P 500 hasn’t experienced a 5% drop since the U.K. voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, and since then it has had an uninterrupted period of 588 days without a 5% decline. The index’s plunge in February pushed the CBOE VIX Volatility Index up 116%, the sharpest increase ever. At one point, the S&P 500 fell as much as 12% from its January 26 all-time high, sending the benchmark index into correction status, but a Friday rebound trimmed its drop from the peak to 8.73%. Also of note is the yield on 10-year Treasury notes reached as high at 2.90%, a fresh four-year high1.

In key economic news, the Institute of Supply Management’s (ISM) nonmanufacturing (service sectors) activity index jumped from 56 to 59.9 in January, the fastest pace of service industries growth in at least a decade2.

The U.S. trade deficit widened by 5.3% in December to -$53.1B, its highest gap since 2008, as imports rose 2.5% to a record $256.5B, and exports increased 1.8% to $203.4B. Jobless claims fell by 9,000 the week prior down to 221,000–its lowest level in nearly 45 years. Lastly, the final December reading of wholesale inventories rose by 0.4%, topping estimates for a 0.2% rise and follows a 0.2% November increase.

Future Forecast According to Cleveland Federal Reserve president Loretta Mester, the recent turbulence in the financial markets will not damage the economy’s overall strong prospects3. Before the recent downs there was a recordsetting run, and “for now, I expect the economy will work through this episode of market turbulence and I have not changed my outlook. In my view, the underlying fundamentals supporting the economy are very sound.” As of now policy should tighten at a pace “similar to last year’s,” when the Fed raised rates three times. Forecasters see the U.S. economy gathering steam this year and the Federal Reserve raising short-term interest rates three or perhaps four times by the end of 2018.

Despite the recent market turmoil, economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal have predicted that the U.S. gross domestic product

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would rise 2.8% in 2018, accelerating from 2.5% growth in Q4 of 2017.

This prediction is supported by the recent package of tax-code changes.

Economists also believe the unemployment rate will fall below 4% by midyear. The latest survey was conducted Feb. 2nd-6th, after the release of the January jobs report and during a period of stock-market volatility4.

Of these economists, nearly two-thirds said they saw more risk that the economy would grow faster than it would grow more slowly–another sign of optimism about the outlook.

The market was undervalued when the correction started in February, and it was even more undervalued after it happened. Now rising inflation data has some worried the correction isn’t over, and that higher interest rates will be a big negative for stocks. It’s true rising rates reduce the markets fair value, but we’re still a long way from the danger zone.

Corrections are funny things. Investors and institutions can get scared or shaken, and sometimes those violent pullbacks can lead to a sustained downturn. I don’t think that’s the case now, however. Obviously, the risk of rising interest rates was a culprit, but I think fundamentals will rule the day and that the recovery from extreme volatility is sustainable. We’ll definitely see more volatility, but I don’t think it’ll be as abrupt or violent as what we saw, and as far as inflation goes, we’re still a long way from the danger point, before corporate earnings are impacted.

The bottom line is that stocks are still cheap and fundamentals rule the day.

Mark Martiak can be seen offering his financial commentary and views on CNBC CLOSING BELL, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK and YAHOO! FINANCE. Mark can be heard on his weekly podcast: MARTIAK MARKET UPDATE - available at: https://markmartiak.com Mark Martiak is a Senior Wealth Strategist at Premier Wealth Advisors LLC in New York and a registered investment advisor with First Allied Securities Inc. Securities offered through First Allied Securities, Inc., A Registered Broker/Dealer. Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through: Premier Wealth Advisors, LLC. (PWA) & First Allied Advisory Services, Inc. (FAAS). PWA & FAAS are not related entities.

References: 1. Economists Stick With Optimistic U.S. Outlook Despite Market Turmoil. Forecasters surveyed by The Wall Street Journal see the Fed raising rates at least three times in 2018. The Wall Street Journal - By David Harrison and Ben Leubsdorf. Updated Feb. 8, 2018 10:02 a.m. ET 2. U.S. Service Industries Expand by Most in at Least 10 Years. By Katia Dmitrieva and Sho Chandra of Bloomberg Markets. February 5, 2018, 10:00 AM EST Updated on February 5, 2018, 10:38 AM EST 3. Views on the Economy and Monetary Policy. 02.13.18 Loretta J. Mester Government Affairs Breakfast Series, Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, Dayton, OH. https://www.clevelandfed.org/ newsroom-and-events/speeches.aspx 4. The Wall Street Journal The U.S. economy added a better-than-expected 200,000 jobs in January, the Labor Department said. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, its lowest level since December 2000.

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Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 67

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Spring Into Style Dolce & Gabbana

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BAR REVIEW

G.O.A.T. Sports Bar –By Deb Dahan

G.O.A.T. (“Greatest of All Time”) Sports Bar is a hip, new hangout with a refreshingly relaxed feel and a uniquely friendly vibe. Seasoned local club industry insider-owner Patrick Hua has clearly aimed far beyond the corporate, cookie cutter-approach for a feel that’s equal parts hip hop-sporty swagger and loose, arty elegance, tied together in an open, minimalist space suggestive of a 90s underground warehouse party thrown by clean-freak rich kids.

Built out on the once-grungy gravesite of biker dive bar Shifty’s at 3805 W Sahara, G.O.A.T. seems to have shaken off the salty remnants of its former clientele. Mercifully, G.O.A.T ‘s crisp, whitewashed space betrays no aroma of its colorful past life, and its interior and bar are spotless and pleasingly designed. The bar features a creative cocktail menu and a tempting selection of casually sophisticated eats, perfect for a light meal for patrons looking to unwind.

G.O.A.T.’s pristine walls are broken up by big screen TVs, bold-stroked oil portraits of a panoply of Greatest of All Times sportsmen, and a solitary, slightly incongruent Moebius print of a world weary, bubble gum-blowing Marilyn Monroe. The space is fresh and full of potential; Hua’s intended esthetic shines through, but it has the feel of a vibe still trying to find itself. Arty, elegant sports bar? Relaxed, hip retreat for industry types to cool down and recharge after work? G.O.A.T. communicates an impressive vision teasingly close to realization - but

not yet quite at the point of full coherence and stylistic harmony.

One area where G.O.A.T. may emerge as a contender for undisputed champion is its customer service. Bartender Ray – an affable former 90s pro breakdancer – engages patrons with genuine conversation so often lacking in superficial, surface La-La Land. In addition, this elder statesman b-boy is more than genial in accommodating requests for changes and substitutions to G.O.A.T.’s fun and saucy cocktails.

The knockout customer service punch is delivered by a neatly-attired bathroom-attendant handing out paper towels and collecting the soiled ones, while engaging patrons with respectful pleasantries. It’s lovingly gentile old-school touches like these that set G.O.A.T. apart and may perhaps one day prove its name is no hyperbole.

Tired of slick, corporate McBars? G.O.A.T may offer the perfect alternative: a fresh-feeling local hangout with a private owner motivated by more than just the bottom line. G.O.A.T. feels guided by the formidable creative vision of a genuine auteur-in-the-making.

Vegas is a city built on big dreams and swagger, and “Greatest of All Time” may one day prove itself to be more than a vain boast. G.O.A.T. may not yet be the greatest - but it’s fighting to get there. Take a seat, ringside.

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 73

Hamilton At The Smith Center How To Get Your Tickets –By Myron Martin

I

’m getting calls every day with this question. I am also hearing reports that the entire run of “Hamilton” in Las Vegas is completely sold out. THIS IS NOT TRUE.

them. Got it? No tickets have been sold for “Hamilton” performances during this period at The Smith Center. Shouldn’t someone need to own something before they can resell it?

The producers of “Hamilton” want to make sure that real people get access to tickets at face value, therefore they are holding the on-sale date a little later than usual. That’s right, other than season-ticket holders who already have their subscription seats for the week of May 29, no single tickets have been sold for “Hamilton” at The Smith Center. We are anticipating a lateApril date for these tickets to go on sale. Please keep an eye open for this date and check our website, www.TheSmithCenter.com, for updates.

The Smith Center is also taking steps to prevent unethical ticket brokering.

Because certain sellers have been known to purchase tickets once and resell them multiple times by reprinting a print-at-home ticket in the PDF format, we will not be offering print-at-home tickets for “Hamilton.” This means that you will need to pick up tickets at will call, or have them mailed to you just prior to the performance. Please know this step is necessary in order to curtail fraudulent ticketing activity.

Why are the show producers waiting to sell single tickets? They believe this will help to cut down on tickets sold via the secondary market, therefore making more tickets available directly to Las Vegas locals who want to see the show. “Hamilton” has already played an important role in helping Congress understand the importance of outlawing ticket sellers’ use of BOTS (computers that buy up all the good seats for the sole purpose of reselling them at a much higher price). That’s because the show producers have seen their seats filled with people who “know a guy” who can get them tickets. Some audience members even like to flaunt the fact that they paid more than $3,000 per seat on the secondary market.

The only way to ensure your tickets are genuine and guaranteed is to buy them directly from The Smith Center — the official ticket seller for “Hamilton” — at www.thesmithcenter.com.

It’s important to point out that none of the money made from secondary sales goes to the show, the producers who risked their dollars to fund the production, the actors, the theater, or anyone else associated with the show.

Nor does the state benefit, because ticket brokers are not charging sales tax on their inflated tickets. The “Hamilton” producers want their tickets going to people who really want to see the show and who plan to use the tickets for their own friends and family.

So be careful. While the internet has significantly expanded consumer access to live events, it has also created new opportunities for fraud and deceptive practices. There are unscrupulous ticket sellers who set up websites meant to intentionally confuse the consumer. You may click on a link that looks like the official site for The Smith Center (or the T-Mobile Arena, MGM Grand Garden Arena, etc.) that are actually resellers impersonating the official venue websites. Just because it says “smithcenter” in the URL, doesn’t mean it is the official site. You might be buying tickets that are fraudulent (or non-existent). Do yourself a favor and be sure.

And if you currently see tickets advertised for “Hamilton” shows between June 5 to 24, please know these are speculative offers from people who do not actually have tickets to sell, so you may not receive any tickets from

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 74

Plenty of tickets will be available on the first day of sale for performances from June 5 to 24. Don’t miss your chance to be “in the room where it happens!”

In the meantime, check out the Grammy Award-winning “Hamilton” soundtrack and get ready to be among the first to see this groundbreaking, amazing and extraordinary show!

As president and CEO of The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Myron Martin brings the world’s most revered and celebrated entertainers to Las Vegas. Martin has a rich history in the performing arts business. A proud Las Vegas resident, Martin has received many accolades, including being named among the Vegas Dozen, Las Vegas’ Man of the Year by Vegas Seven, and receiving the key to the city from Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman. The Nevada Broadcasting Association presented him the Community Achievement Award and The Public Education Foundation called him their Champion for Children. He is an Emmy Award nominee for producing the Vegas PBS special “Frank Wildhorn & Friends” and is a voter for the Tony Awards.

THE HEART OF THE ARTS. ®

In the heart of our city, there’s a place that’s celebrated around the world.

It’s our city’s heart of beauty and creativity.

It’s the heart of learning and inspiration.

The heart of magic.

And it was built just for you.

Experience it and let your life be changed in brilliant new ways.

TheSmithCenter.com 361 Symphony Park Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89106 | 702.749.2000 | TTY: 800.326.6868 or dial 711

Laser Spine Surgery: Pro’s & Con’s –By Andrew Cash, M.D.

Y

our back hurts! And you’re looking for a treatment that will make the pain stop.

You’ve read about laser spine surgery, and you’re interested in how it may help relieve your back pain.

There’s been lots of press about laser spine surgery, and while it can help some back conditions and it does benefit some people, it seems to benefit those with only minor spine problems.

What IS Laser Spine Surgery?

Laser spine surgery uses a laser to remove tissue with heat rather that with traditional instruments. While it may be seen as “modern” or a “magic bullet,” in truth, the use of lasers has been around for a long time. Lasers use a focused beam of light to cut soft tissue.

The PRO’S: • It’s minimally invasive; • Fast recovery time; and • For minor conditions, laser spine surgery can be effective.

The CON’S: • For most painful back conditions, laser spine surgery is not effective; • Laser spine surgery can truly only be used for a very small number of minor spine conditions; • Laser surgery can result in a procedure which does not completely address or alleviate the problem (inadequate operation), which sometimes means you’ll need additional surgery; • Pain may actually be caused by back instability and laser surgery does not address or alleviate this condition; • Using a laser during surgery can sometimes limit nerve damage, but in the hands of an inexperienced surgeon, a laser can actually increase the chances of tissue or nerve damage; • Using a laser scalpel can be less effective and pose more risk than other minimally invasive procedures; • The heat from the laser can damage adjacent nerves and lead to increased pain; • Laser spine surgery is not taught in medical schools and is not considered a viable approach to spine surgery by medical advisory boards; • Laser spine surgery is generally not covered by health insurance; and • You don’t have to be a surgeon to perform laser spine surgery.

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 76

A Very Important Consideration Laser spine surgery does not have to be performed by a spine surgeon.

Therefore, practitioners who do not have the education, experience or understanding of the anatomy and function of the spine can legally perform laser spine surgery.

A wise plan of action is to have an exam and consultation with a spine surgeon who is both Board-Certified and Fellowship Trained. At that exam, your spine surgeon can explain all options available for treatment of your particular (and unique) condition. Before committing to any spinal procedure, it’s wise to consider non-surgical options such as physical therapy, medication, and supervised exercise.

If surgery is indicated, explore all options available, including minimally invasive procedures that offer the benefits of less post-procedure pain and shorter recovery time. Statistics prove, more complicated back problems often require traditional surgery for the best outcome.

Andrew M. Cash, M.D., is a board certified orthopedic spine surgeon specializing in neck and back care with a focus on minimally invasive operative treatments. His practice—Desert Institute of Spine Care—is located at 9339 West Sunset Rd., Suite #100, Las Vegas, NV 89148. For more information, visit www.disclv.com or call 702.630.3472.

Las Vegas Icons

Al Marquis – By Mark Fierro

Sometimes the worst thing is the best

thing ever. “Exhibit A” might be Al Marquis, the founding partner of Marquis Aurbach Coffing, known as MAC Law, one of the largest local law firms in the state of Nevada.

Upon graduating from high school, he had a bold life plan. He was accepted to the U.S. Air Force Academy, and he was going to be an astronaut.

Didn’t happen. Al had to drop out of the Academy because he and his wife got into having a family way earlier than expected.

(He also admits that his experience at the Academy convinced him that he was “the wrong stuff ” to be an astronaut—he could not fit into the military mold.) His big plan was over, and his parents were mortified – convinced that he would never get a college education. However, that was the beginning of a series of events that led Al to where he is today, a fortunate path that Al contends is mostly attributable to “dumb ass luck.”

Surprisingly, Al’s personality does not really fit either an astronaut or a founding partner of a large, well-respected law firm. While he can still litigate with the best attorneys and pilots a plane occasionally; he is enjoying partial retirement and his other occupations as an author, cowboy poet, and real cowboy raising horses on his own ranch that is complete with a runway, pond and Tarzan swing (www.Kingstonranch. com). He is also a philanthropist who has donated the use of his ranch to

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hold camps for disadvantaged children such as those assisted by the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation, where Al serves on the board and his dog Charlie serves as the official mascot. The NCCF children call him “Uncle Al.” He also has two successful sons (one of whom is a shareholder at MAC Law), who love him dearly and are quite surprised at their old man’s youthful nature as he quickly approaches his 70th birthday (which will have passed by the time you read this). Sometimes the worst thing is the best thing ever, as Al revealed in a recent interview: Vegas Legal Magazine: You did not come to the law in a straight line...

Al Marquis: It was quite the zigzag, that’s for sure.

I went to the Air Force Academy for two years. When I quit there, they made me serve as an enlisted man in the Air Force for two years in Wichita Falls, Texas.

I moved back to Seattle with a wife and two kids, and we lived in lowincome housing while I pursued my major in physics. By the time I got to my senior year, I realized a physics degree would not provide me with a means to earn a good income. I had to get myself out of debt, pay back student loans, and raise a family, so a good income was necessary.

I looked around campus for different possibilities. I looked into nuclear physics, but the only jobs were in nuclear power plants, teaching in

universities or working on atomic bombs, none of which paid well or sounded very appealing.

The University of Washington offered graduate school in something called biophysics. I had an appointment to discuss the possibility of attending, and I was walking down this long hallway when I saw this open door to a surgery room. On this table was a dead dog with his front paws up in the air. I looked at that gruesome sight for a minute, turned around and left the building. That was the end of my biophysics career.

Then one day I was walking by this old Gothic-style building on campus that had a brass plate on the front that said “Law School.” So I walked in, looked for the administration office, and asked, “How long does it take to get through law school?” They said three years, and that is how I became a lawyer.

VLM: What advice would you give to a young attorney who has doubts?

AM: Well, I remember being in the first year of law school, and it is so competitive. Everybody was so tense, and it seemed I was such a long way off from making any money.

I remember sitting at the school cafeteria and two guys across from me were third-year law students. I couldn’t even imagine myself in my third year of law school. It seemed like such an eternity that I thought I’d get hit by a bus or something before graduating and all of my hard work would be for nothing. But lo and behold, I graduated, got a job, and ended up in Las Vegas for the next 43 years.

I feel so fortunate to have made the decision to become a lawyer. While the job has been challenging, I’ve never been bored. Most importantly, I’ve been able to help clients and make a big difference in their businesses and their lives. In that regard, the practice of law has been a fulfilling career.

VLM: So it worked out OK? AM: Las Vegas was a really good choice. This is a thriving business community, which naturally leads to legal disputes. I’ve been fortunate to have been involved in some high-profile cases, such as the representation of Martin Sheen and Carl Sagan and a lawsuit against entertainer Redd Foxx.

This led to some big money cases such as a $1.2 million jury verdict against Aetna Insurance Company in the 1980’s and a $35 million condemnation case in the 1990’s. I’ve never regretted becoming a lawyer or choosing Las Vegas as my home.

VLM: Over the span of your career who stood out in your mind as a really exceptional attorney?

AM: Dennis Kennedy and I were in school together and we were kind of the derelicts of the Law Review. All the serious students thought we would never get a job.

But we both got jobs early, both at Lionel, Sawyer & Collins. It was the largest firm in the state in 1975, with 18 lawyers. I was there for 2 1/2 years and worked for some outstanding attorneys. I worked with Sam Lionel, who is amazingly still practicing law at the age of 98; Grant Sawyer, who was a tremendous person, and served as Nevada’s governor from 1959 to 1967; and Steve Morris, a great litigation attorney. I watched all of them and tried to take the best attributes that I could from each of them. Watching all these great lawyers gave me a far greater education than law school.

VLM: During the last 10-15 years, many firms decided to sell out to large national firms, causing many of them to fragment or take on a new identity, yet your firm managed to stay together. How did your firm hold together when nationals came calling?

AM: That’s a really good question, because the only thing holding a law firm together is the mutual perception that we’re all better together than apart. We’ve worked hard to achieve and maintain that status.

In most firms, the senior partners keep the money for themselves and let a little trickle down to the younger partners and associates. They may also sell the firm to a national firm, taking additional profits that the younger partners will never see. Younger partners tend to resent being excluded from these profits and having little or no say in the direction of their firm, so they eventually quit and go out on their own.

Partners in our firm, however, are in a unique position. When they become partner, they become part of a compensation plan in which we are all on the same footing. A new partner in the firm is paid in accordance with the same formula as a senior or even a founding partner. There are few, if any, other law firms where new partners can make that kind of money. We want to keep the best attorneys and we are not greedy so we share the profits based upon the individual’s performance.

We also share the decision-making. Once an attorney becomes a director at MAC, they are entrusted with all of the information needed to manage the firm, and they participate in the management because we each have an equal vote on firm decisions.

This has allowed us to retain some of the very best lawyers, and it is why most of our partners have stayed with us for so long, allowing us to avoid the major splits that often happen with other firms. The young lawyers know that we have a special firm, and that the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence. Our staff stays with us for the same reason. Our office manager has been with us for 33 years, and my secretary has worked for me for 32 years. We are able to retain the very best professionals because they know this is a really good place to work.

VLM: What are you doing now?

AM: I’ve joked for years that I’ve been working on making myself dispensable. Around 2000, Terry Coffing became president of the firm basically taking over my job. In 2010, we changed the name to Marquis Aurbach Coffing. Now everybody refers to us as MAC Law, even the Nevada Supreme Court.

These days I refer to myself as semi-retired. I’m in the office a couple days each week, oversee work on my cases and still keep my hand in the game. I have more time to ride my horses, play pickle ball, scuba dive and travel. In September, my girlfriend and I took our dogs to Europe for a three-week vacation and I just returned from the big island of Hawaii. I have to say that I am enjoying this chapter of my life.

Mark Fierro began his career as a reporter/anchor at KLAS-TV, the CBS television station in Las Vegas. He worked at the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. He served as communications consultant on IPO road shows on Wall Street.

He provided litigation support for the Michael Jackson death trial. He is president of Fierro Communications, Inc., and author of several books including “Road Rage: The Senseless Murder of Tammy Meyers.” He has made numerous appearances on national TV news programs.

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 79

DIETS & PICKING THE RIGHT –By Maryam Rastkerdar

A

t any given time, a new diet plan is on the rise, but with so many new trends it is becoming harder to determine which plan is right for you. Strictly following one diet plan can not only be very problematic, but also difficult to maintain. Here is a quick insight on several popular diets.

Paleo Diet The Paleo diet can be described as primal eating and focuses primarily on food from the paleolithic time such as meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, seeds and nuts. Excluded are processed foods, grains, legumes, dairy and refined sugar. The paleo diet suggests that legumes and grains contain anti-nutrients and pro-inflammatory properties but fails to consider the fact that cooking eliminates the anti-nutrient affects and whole grains do have health benefits. The paleo diet certainly has its appeal of being a lean and clean diet, but in the long run, it can be extremely restrictive and hard to maintain.

Gluten Free Diet A gluten free diet excludes the protein gluten which is present in grains such as wheat, barley, rye and oats. A gluten free diet is essential for managing symptoms in celiac disease- a disease associated with an inability to properly digest gluten. A gluten free diet is, however, popular due to the perception of improved health, increased energy and weight loss. However, removing gluten from the diet typically leads to a limited intake of fiber and vitamins from grains and may not be beneficial for everyone.

Vegas Legal Magazine Spring 2018 | Pg. 80

Vegetarian/Vegan Diet Vegetarians and vegans exclude animal products from their diet. A vegan diet however is more limiting and excludes all form of animal derived products including dairy, eggs, honey and gelatin. Vegetarian and vegan diets contain high levels of healthy plant compounds and high amounts of fiber and minerals, as well as low amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol. On the other hand, both diets can lead to several nutrient deficiencies and result in low intakes of calcium, zinc, iron, vitamin D and B12 and as omega-3 fatty acids.

Low Fat Diet A low-fat diet mainly restricts fat and cholesterol and is intended to reduced obesity and heart disease. It should be noted however; many low-fat alternative foods are often high in sugar and calories and provide minimal vitamins and minerals. Evidence shows that not all fats are equally harmful and that healthy fats found in fish, avocado, nuts and seeds, are essential for heart health and lead to feeling satisfied longer.

Juice Cleanse On a straight juice cleanse, the daily dose of fruits and vegetables are being consumed and the nutrients are easily absorbed. The downside however is blood sugar fluctuations due to the high intake of natural sugars which won’t lead to any actual weight loss. In addition to that, there is a lack of fiber and protein and if stayed too long it can lead to nutrient deficiencies.

HUMOR //

Spring 2018