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 Chesnoffs 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 McKennas 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
Hakkasans takeover of Light
Group is another step toward companys dominance of the Strip
By John Katsilometes
LAS VEGAS SUN
Dec. 16, 2014
All of the companys 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. Thats the nightclub formerly known as Pure (acquired as part
of the companys 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/
