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 12-22-14
Inside Vegas - Steve Miller

Steve Miller is a former Las Vegas City Councilman. In 1991, the readers of the Las Vegas Review Journal voted him the "Most Effective Public Official" in Southern Nevada. Visit his website at: http://www.SteveMiller4LasVegas.com


Attorney David Chesnoff Admits to Possible
Conflict of Interest in Pure Cocktail
Server's Strangulation Case

..

               The anatomy of a conflict of interest:

INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
December 22, 2014

LAS VEGAS - Attorney David Chesnoff  is one of the most respected jurists in Las Vegas. He was the law partner of former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, represents A-list celebrities, and is a part owner of the 75,000 square foot Pure night club in Caesars Palace.

On January 3, 2009, Patrick Jones brutally attacked Michelle McKenna in the middle of Pure where she was working as a cocktail server. Jones was comped at Pure that night by his mother Caesars Entertainment Senior Vice President of Government Relations Jan Jones-Blackhurst  - and has been comped back into the club several times since. His drunken actions caused McKenna to suffer life long injuries. Patrick was not arrested or barred from revisiting the club.

Jones-Blackhurst is in charge Caesars political campaign contributions including those made to Nevada state judges, and the Clark County District Attorney.

Following her attack, McKenna reached out to her friend local developer Bruce Becker who recommended she contact David Chesnoff to take legal action in state court against her attacker and Pure management who allegedly protected Jones after the incident based on his mother's position with Caesars.

In the five years following McKenna's attack, Chesnoff failed to disclose his financial interest in Pure, name Pure or Ceasars as defendants, and asked for three delays allowing the statute of limitations to expire forcing McKenna to settle her case for pennies on the dollar.

(Caesars Entertainment filed for bankruptcy on December 19, 2014. Pure night club was purchased by Hakkasan Group in March, 2014 for an undisclosed sum. Its not yet known if David Chesnoff will receive "one-half to one percent" of the purchase price.)

On October 24, 2014, Chesnoff and one of his law partners were sued by Michelle McKenna in the federal court of United States Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey for legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, and deceptive trade practices.

In the complaint, attorneys for McKenna state: "Michelle retained David Z. Chesnoff (“Chesnoff”) and Richard A. Schonfeld (“Schonfeld”) of the law firm Chesnoff & Schonfeld to represent her in a personal injury lawsuit against Jones, Pure, and Caesars. However, Chesnoff, who is believed to have an undisclosed financial interest in Pure, and was also representing Pure executive, Steve Davidovici, in a tax evasion case during the pendency of the personal injury action, in order to protect Chesnoff’s conflicting interests, Chesnoff & Schonfeld failed to name Pure or Caesars as defendants in the action prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations... "

McKenna's FULL 20 PAGE FEDERAL LAWSUIT against Chesnoff

Chesnoff's FULL 10 PAGE RESPONSE

David Chesnoff is best known for representing celebrities including Paris Hilton, but has never been known for double crossing a client - until now.

Chesnoff's statement on page 4 of his response may be the smoking gun McKenna's attorneys will use to prove he had a conflict of interest, should not have taken her case, and intentionally excluded Pure as a defendant as a favor to his client Steve Davidovici, the former owner of Pure, and ex- LV mayor Jan Jones who is reportedly one of Chesnoff's closest friends.
 

....
               Michelle McKenna                               Patrick Jones                       Jan Jones-Blackhurst

McKenna is being represented in her lawsuit against Chesnoff by the Bailey Kennedy law firm in Las Vegas, and is demanding a trial by jury.

Chesnoff is being represented by the Las Vegas law firm Thorndal, Armstrong, Delk, Balkenbush & Esinger.

After filing her initial complaint against Patrick Jones in state court, McKenna was fired from her job at Pure. In response, McKenna filed a federal lawsuit in the federal court of United States Judge Gloria M. Navarro against Hakkason Limited, the owners of Pure, for Discrimination, Retaliation, Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress, and Negligent Hiring, Retention or Supervision. Attorneys Preston Rezaee and Ryan Alexander are representing McKenna in her lawsuit against Hakkason, and are also demanding a trial by jury.

Cases such as McKenna's often have better results when tried in the Federal Court system away from the political influence of hotels on the Las Vegas Strip.

McKenna's FULL 7 PAGE FEDERAL LAWSUIT against HAKKASAN LIMITED

BACKGROUND:
http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vegas/11-3-14_Inside_Vegas.html

http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vegas/12-30-13_Inside_Vegas.html

http://www.stevemiller4lasvegas.com/McKENNAvsJONES.html

Former Pure server files malpractice suit against lawyers in attack case
By CARRI GEER THEVENOT
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Oct. 28, 2014
According to the malpractice suit, the defendants’ errors forced McKenna to settle for $225,000 from the homeowners insurance of Jones Blackhurst — less than 5 percent of McKenna’s actual damages.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/former-pure-server-files-malpractice-suit-against-lawyers-attack-case

Caesars Said to Sign Bankruptcy Deal With Senior Creditors
By Laura J. Keller
Bloomberg
Dec 19, 2014
Caesars Entertainment Corp. (CZR), the most indebted U.S. casino operator, signed an agreement with its most-senior bondholders today to put its largest unit into bankruptcy in mid-January, said two people with direct knowledge of the document.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-19/caesars-said-to-sign-deal-with-senior-creditors-on-bankruptcy.html

Hakkasan’s takeover of Light Group is another step toward company’s dominance of the Strip
By John Katsilometes
LAS VEGAS SUN
Dec. 16, 2014
All of the company’s new clubs and restaurants are in MGM Resorts hotels, but Hakkasan also operates inside Caesars Palace, as the 75,000-square foot Omnia mega-club is targeted for a spring 2015 opening. That’s the nightclub formerly known as Pure (acquired as part of the company’s takeover of Angel Management Group in March), which nearly a decade ago helped spark the mega-club boom in Las Vegas.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/kats-report/2014/dec/16/hakkasans-takeover-light-group-another-step-toward/



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