LAS VEGAS – James J. Pisanelli and Todd L. Bice, founding partners of the litigation firm Pisanelli Bice PLCC, announced the firm has received five Tier 1 metropolitan rankings by U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” in 2015.
Pisanelli Bice received a Tier 1 ranking for five practice areas in Las Vegas, including Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Construction, Litigation – Land Use & Zoning, Litigation – Mergers & Acquisitions, and Litigation – Real Estate. The firm also received a Tier 2 ranking in Litigation – First Amendment.
In order to be eligible to receive a U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” ranking, a firm must have at least one attorney who has received a high enough peer review to be listed in the current edition of Best Lawyers. Firms are eligible in the practice areas and metropolitan areas in which they have listed lawyers.
The “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process based on client feedback, information provided by a Law Firm Leaders Survey, and the evaluations of 52,488 individual leading lawyers collected by Best Lawyers in its most recent annual survey.
James Pisanelli and Todd Bice started their law firm, Pisanelli Bice, four years ago and have quickly risen to prominence in the Las Vegas Valley and internationally. Among the cases they are handling are the well-publicized dispute between Wynn Resorts and former board director Kazuo Okada, as well as a wrongful termination case brought by the former CEO of Sands China. Pisanelli says he owes his firm’s success to the cultures of teamwork and service fostered within it.
What is the best business advice you’ve received, and whom did it come from?
Two things: The first came from our former partner and lifelong friend, Frank Schreck. From the time we were very young associates working for Frank to the last days of our partnership with him, Frank always implored us to surround ourselves with smart people. Not only did we have the comfort as young lawyers of being surrounded by smart, experienced people who could help us with any given problem on any given day, but we were also constantly challenged to elevate our practice and thinking to a higher level.
Todd Bice and I brought that philosophy to our new firm. We hand-picked every member of the firm and continue to challenge and elevate one another. It is a remarkable experience to be challenged on a daily basis as the senior member of a firm in the same manner I was challenged as one a member of Frank’s firm.
Whether you need help growing a business, planning your estate or you just want to ensure you get a fair shake in court, this is the list for you — 346 of the valley’s top lawyers.
What makes them the top lawyers in their specialty? Professionalism, expertise, experience and a host of other factors. How did we determine who made the cut? This year, we turned to Avvo, a Seattle-based company that rates and profiles attorneys nationwide. Avvo’s proprietary algorithm rates all attorneys on a 10-point scale, factoring in peer endorsements as well as experience, education, training, speaking, publishing and awards. These dynamic ratings are continuously refreshed based on new information gleaned from attorneys, as well as from licensing and disciplinary authorities.
While the list in the pages that follow is wide-ranging and carefully researched, many good attorneys don’t appear on the list. This reference is best used as just one step in the careful journey toward finding the attorney who is right for you.
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 The Best Lawyers in America 2015, a prestigious nationwide peer-review publication. Managing Partner Debra L. Spinelli was also selected by her peers for the third consecutive year for inclusion in the publication.
For the first time, 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 first time in the category for appellate practice, recognizing Bice’s successful practice in the appellate arena. The publication listed Bice in four more legal categories, including: commercial litigation, litigation – first amendment, litigation – land use and zoning, and litigation – mergers and acquisitions.
Bice was also named the Best Lawyers 2015 Land Use and Zoning “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.
The Nevada Supreme Court should not permit a sore election loser such as Henderson’s Rick Workman to sandbag a duly elected official a year after the election, especially when he knew he could have brought a challenge earlier.
That’s the main thrust of a brief (posted below) filed by Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen’s attorney, Todd Bice, to a case in which Workman is seeking to remove Hafen from office, claiming he wasn’t eligible to be elected to his current term. The Nevada Supreme Court will consider the case, after Workman’s attorney, Stephanie Rice, has a chance to reply.
Rice is the lawyer who successfully argued the case of Lorton v. Jones, which held earlier this year that members of certain city councils — whether serving as a member of the council or serving as mayor — were limited to 12 years total, not up to 12 years as a council member and another 12 years as mayor. As a result, some term-limited members of Reno’s City Council were barred from running for mayor.
Workman later engaged Rice to challenge Hafen, who had reached his 12-year limit before running for and winning the Henderson mayoral primary last year. His action asks the Nevada Supreme Court to either allow him to challenge Hafen directly, in a proceeding known as quo warranto, or to force the attorney general to do so.
But Bice says Workman is out of luck, for several reasons.
