Las
Vegas Lawyer David Chesnoff's Worst Nightmare
"Sealed" Malpractice Complaint
is Published on AmericanMafia.com
The Players: Bankrupt
Caesars Palace; The Spoiled Son of
an ex-LV Mayor; A Seriously
Injured Cocktail Server;
And a Morally Bankrupt
Celebrity Attorney
.
Michelle McKenna
David Chesnoff
INSIDE VEGAS EXCLUSIVE!
INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
March 23, 2015
LAS VEGAS - Sometimes What Happens in
Vegas, doesn't necessarily Stay in Vegas.
A gag order was filed on March 13,
2015 in the malpractice lawsuit brought by former Caesars Palace cocktail
server Michelle McKenna against prominent Las Vegas celebrity
lawyer David Chesnoff. Through a confidential source, INSIDE
VEGAS obtained an Amended Complaint that was supposed to be filed under
seal on March 20, 2015, a document that was never meant for public view.
The federal lawsuit involves a strangled
cocktail waitress who has the audacity to take on a politically
connected local attorney, a giant hotel/casino company, and its Vice
President who is the former Mayor of Las Vegas.
Because Caesars Entertainment is in the
throes of an $18
billion dollar bankruptcy, and its V.P. may be leaving the company
soon to try to regurgitate her political career, it's obvious neither party
would welcome this publicity, especially in a genre such as AmericanMafia.com.
The malpractice lawsuit is based on Michelle
McKenna learning too late that David Chesnoff had an undisclosed financial
interest in PURE, a night club inside Caesar's Palace where McKenna worked
on January 3, 2009 when Chesnoff's good friend, former Las Vegas mayor
Jan Jones-Blackhurst who is now a Caesars Entertainment Vice President,
used her position to gain VIP status and $3,446 worth of complimentary
liquor for her then-23 year old son Patrick and his friends.
.
Jan Jones-Blackhurst
Patrick Jones
According to eyewitnesses, McKenna, who
was assigned to serve Patrick's VIP table, was strangled by Patrick when
she refused his sexual advances resulting in serious damage to the left
and right carotid arteries in her neck, along with other injuries.
Several days after her attack, McKenna
received a surprise phone call from a friend she hadn't heard from in years.
Local casino owner Bruce Becker advised her to hire attorney David Chesnoff
to sue Patrick, PURE nightclub, and Caesars Palace. However, to McKenna's
dismay, after gladly taking the case on contingency, Chesnoff only named
Patrick who has no assets, and for the next four years and nine months
refused to name McKenna's employers in the lawsuit, saying they were included
as the "Doe" and "Roe" Defendants, a statement which was completely false.
Chesnoff helped the case languish by filing
four extensions to use up time. In October 2013, McKenna called a friend
who told her she had been set up - that Becker and Chesnoff were close
friends of Jones-Blackhurst. McKenna immediately fired Chesnoff and
hired new counsel. Chesnoff then stalled another month before turning over
McKenna's files to her new attorneys.
Two weeks before the statute was to run
out, McKenna's new counsel tried to name Caesars, PURE, and Jones-Blackhurst
as defendants, but the state court judge ruled that after granting four
extensions to her previous counsel, McKenna had had ample time to include
new defendants. His ruling forced McKenna to settle with Jones-Blackhurst's
homeowner's insurance company for $225,000. Chesnoff immediately filed
an attorney's lien for $62,970.37 which he collected from McKenna's settlement
leaving her with no funds to pay for her life long medical treatment.
INSIDE VEGAS broke this story on December
30, 2013, and my ongoing coverage inspired Chesnoff & Schonfeld, PC
to seek a protective order.
According to the gag
order filed on March 13, all future documents in this case filed after
that date were to be kept under seal with this notice attached: THIS DOCUMENT
CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION COVERED BY A PROTECTIVE ORDER OF THE
COURT AND IS SUBMITTED UNDER SEAL PURSUANT TO THAT PROTECTIVE ORDER. THE
CONFIDENTIAL CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT MAY NOT BE DISCLOSED WITHOUT EXPRESS
ORDER OF THE COURT.
Protective orders can provide necessary
protection, expedite discovery, reduce costs, protect the parties in the
event of inadvertent disclosure, and reduce the risk of costly discovery
disputes and judicial intervention. They can also keep the public in the
dark regarding important issues of public interest and safety. Caesars
Entertainment's bankruptcy is causing thousands of people and hundreds
of businesses to pay attorneys to try to obtain portions of moneys owed.
Debtors and the public have the right to
know that a bankrupt company's totally lax security system is affecting
public safety. Citizens also have the right to know when an officer
of the court violates his Oath.
The State Bar of Nevada has proven time and again that they are subservient
to attorneys with political connections. And the local District Attorney
based on his disinterest in this case, has also proven to be subservient
to certain special interests. This important federal lawsuit warrants public
scrutiny, and should never have been sealed.
Here
is the "SEALED" Amended Complaint:
http://www.stevemiller4lasvegas.com/McKennaAmendedComplaint-3-21-15.pdf
EXHIBIT
A: Pages 4 - 24, tell the entire story.
BACKGROUND:
http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Jan-Jones-Blackhurst/1279389945
http://www.americanmafia.com/inside_vegas/12-30-13_Inside_Vegas.html
http://www.americanmafia.com/inside_vegas/12-22-14_Inside_Vegas.html
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/former-pure-server-files-malpractice-suit-against-lawyers-attack-case
