CVN screenshot of Las Vegas Sands founder Sheldon Adelson testifying an earlier trial in this litigation in 2013.
Las Vegas, NV - A long-running lawsuit filed by a Hong Kong businessman who accuses Sheldon Adelson’s gaming company Las Vegas Sands of failing to sufficiently compensate him for supposed help in gaining access to Macau’s lucrative gambling market goes to trial for a third time on Monday in a Nevada state courtroom.
A previous trial in 2013 resulted in a $70 million jury award (which later grew to more than $100 million with interest) for plaintiff Richard Suen. Suen originally sued Las Vegas Sands in 2004, alleging he arranged meetings with key Chinese officials to facilitate Las Vegas Sands’ entry into the country.
That trial took place after another in 2008, when a jury awarded Sued $43.8 million.
The 2013 trial was webcast and recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network, which will similarly live stream next week’s proceedings.
The Nevada Supreme Court threw out the most recent award, preserving a verdict in favor of Suen and his company Round Square Co. but ordering a new trial on damages, finding the previous trial only showed a “tenuous relationship” between Suen’s efforts and the profits Las Vegas Sands ultimately generated in Macau.
Las Vegas Sands currently has four gambling resorts in Macau, an island near Hong Kong.
Company founder Sheldon Adelson testified in person at the previous trial, a rare event for a famously press-averse casino mogul and political mega-donor who rarely grants interviews and makes few public appearances.
Adelson’s attorneys told presiding Judge Rob Bare at a pre-trial hearing that their client will be unable to participate in the upcoming trial due to ongoing cancer treatments.
The trial before Judge Bare is slated to run through the month of March and will feature high-powered legal teams on both sides.
Suen is represented by John O’Malley out of Norton Rose Fulbright’s Los Angeles office, and by local Nevada counsel Todd Bice of Pisanelli Bice.
Las Vegas Sands is represented by Richard Sauber out of Robbins Russell’s Washington, DC office, and local Nevada counsel Jim Jimmerson of the Jimmerson Law Firm.
CVN’s live and on-demand coverage will commence with the start of opening statements, and continue for the duration of the trial.
The case is captioned Richard Suen, Round Square Company Ltd vs Las Vegas Sands Corp., case number 04A493744 in Nevada’s Eighth Judicial District Court (Clark County).
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com