Appellate advocacy is the art of persuading, through oral and written communication, a majority of the judges or justices hearing your case to rule in your client’s favor. To be effective, a mastery of the relevant law and policy is not always enough. As Judge Richard A. Posner of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has explained, “a sense of the audience is the key to an advocate’s rhetorical effectiveness. The advocate must think his way into the brains of the audience.” Despite the creation of the new Court of Appeals, the Nevada Supreme Court remains the primary audience for the Nevada business community’s appeals, as matters originating in business court are presumptively retained by the state’s highest tribunal.1 Thus, an appellate practitioner representing Nevada’s businesses must place himself or herself inside the minds of the Nevada Supreme Court Justices by knowing how they vote in addition to the rationale set forth in the Court’s opinions explaining why they voted in the manner that they did.

One innovative way for an advocate to study the appellate audience is by tracking the voting relationships between Nevada’s Supreme Court Justices; think of it as a form of appellate “moneyball” or “jury research.” For example, the following charts represent the level of agreement between Nevada Supreme Court Justices in published en banc cases during the 2014 calendar year. The cells represent the percentage of time that each of the Justices agreed with each other in full, in part, or in judgment in a majority, concurring, or dissenting opinion.

A wellness coach firm has filed a lawsuit claiming MGM Resorts breached its contract to hire a cheaper vendor, then attempted to steal away the former firm’s coaches and trade secrets.

When MGM gave notice in June that it wanted to end its contracts, Pennsylvania-based Wellness Coaches USA had 22 health coaches working with employees at the casino company’s Las Vegas Strip casino-hotels, its corporate headquarters and MGM Grand Detroit, MGM Goldstrike Tunica and Beau Rivage.

Spokespeople for MGM Resorts and the new vendor, Life Time Fitness Inc., both said the lawsuit was without merit.

The 2015 list of Top 100 Mountain States Super Lawyers includes J. Bruce Alverson and LeAnn Sanders, Alverson, Taylor, Mortensen & Sanders; Dennis L. Kennedy, Bailey Kennedy; Kirk B. Lenhard, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck; Jay Young, Howard & Howard Attorneys; Brett A. Axelrod, Fox Rothschild; Todd L. Bice and James J. Pisanelli, Pisanelli Bice; Peter W. Billings, Fabian Clendenin; Daniel F. Polsenberg, Dan R. Waite, Thomas G. Ryan and John E. Bragonje, Lewis Roca Rothgerber; L. Grant Foster, J. Walter Sinclair, B. Newal Squyres, Joe M. Teig, George M. Haley, Mona L. Burton and Bradley T. Cave, Holland & Hart; Donald J. Campbell and J. Colby Williams, Campbell & Williams; Candace C. Carlyon, Carlyon Law Group; Jennifer Ko Craft, Joel Z. Schwarz, Jeffrey A. Silver, John L. Krieger, Eric D. Hone and Michael N. Feder, Dickinson Wright; Joseph P. Hardy, Gordon & Rees; Kenneth E. Hogan, Hogan Hulet; Mark A. Hutchison, Hutchison & Steffen; J. Randall Jones, Kemp, Jones & Coulthard; Edward L. Kainen, Kainen Law Group; David R. Koch, Koch & Scow; David E. Leta and Alan L. Sullivan, Snell & Wilmer; Steven J. McCardell and David W. Tufts, Durham Jones & Pinegar; Steve Morris, Morris Law Group; Nicholas J. Santoro, Santoro Whitmire; Terry N. Trieweiler, Trieweiler Law Firm; Abran E. Vigil, Ballard Spahr.

Lawyers continued to debate the question of jurisdiction Tuesday in a wrongful termination case filed five years ago against Sands China Ltd. by its former president and CEO.

This time their audience was the Nevada Supreme Court.

“This case should proceed to trial where the true facts about control of this entity, where it’s true home was, will be determined,” attorney Todd Bice told the court in Carson City.

Bice represents Steven Jacobs, who filed the lawsuit shortly after he was fired in 2010.

Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez conducted an evidentiary hearing before concluding in May that she has jurisdiction over Sands China in the case. The hearing featured four days of testimony from Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Both Adelson and Las Vegas Sands are defendants in the case.

In her 39-page ruling, Gonzalez found that the control Adelson and Las Vegas Sands have over Sands China “goes far beyond the ordinary relationship of parent to subsidiary.”

LAS VEGAS – James J. Pisanelli and Todd L. Bice, founding partners of the litigation firm Pisanelli Bice PLLC, were recently selected by their legal peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America 2016, a prestigious nationwide peer-review publication. Managing Partner Debra L. Spinelli was also selected for the third consecutive year by her peers for inclusion in the publication, and attorney Jordan T. Smith was selected for inclusion for the first time.

For the second consecutive year, Best Lawyers listed Pisanelli in the category for bet-the-company litigation, a primary focus of the law firm. The publication also listed him in four additional legal categories, including: commercial litigation, construction law, litigation – construction and litigation – real estate.

In addition, Best Lawyers listed Bice for the second consecutive year in the appellate practice category, recognizing Bice’s continuing successful practice in the appellate arena. The publication also listed Bice in four other legal categories, including: commercial litigation, litigation – first amendment, litigation – land use and zoning, and litigation – mergers and acquisitions.

Pisanelli was also named the Best Lawyers 2016 Construction Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Las Vegas. Smith was also named the Best Lawyers 2016 Appellate Practice “Lawyer of the Year” in Las Vegas. The publication recognizes a single lawyer as the “Lawyer of the Year” in each practice area and designated metropolitan area.

The law firm received additional recognition in the publication with Spinelli listed in the commercial litigation category and Smith listed in the appellate practice category.

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey. Over 50,000 leading attorneys cast more than 5.5 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice
areas. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

It is important to note that the lawyers listed in Best Lawyers in America do not have a say in deciding which practice areas they are included in. They are voted into practice areas entirely as a result of the votes they receive from their peers. The subspecialties listed after their names are based on information from a variety of sources.