Bruce A. Leslie
Law and Mediation Practice
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More than 40 years practicing business law in Nevada, providing advice, strategies and solutions to local, regional and international clients in a range of industries. Legal practice focusing on casino resort law, including acquisitions and sales, financings, senior executive employment and severance, development, suppliers, leasing, construction, retail, restaurant, nightclub, and entertainment venues. Further areas include guiding clients on compliance and governance, and negotiating and documenting loans, real estate transactions, general business acquisitions and sales. Past firm memberships include: Beckley Singleton, Bernhard & Leslie and Armstrong Teasdale.
Significant Cases
• Nine figure contracts to acquire, develop and operate real estate into hotels/nightclubs
• Senior executives’ employment agreements with equity, severance
• Chefs and up-scale restaurants involving $5 million or more in restaurant buildouts within casinos
• Restructuring of casino resort financing
Skill Areas and Key Accomplishments
• Governance and Nominating Committee (10 years)- Chair & member
• Audit Committee Member (13 years)
• Compliance Committee and “Hotline” Committee Member (13 years)
• Member of the Independent Director’s Litigation Committee
• Chairman of internal compliance investigations
• Sole trustee of independent directors’ indemnity trust & Risk Management Oversight Committee
• Licensed or found suitable by multiple state and international gaming regulatory authorities
Board Membership
Board Directorship – Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. October 2002– April 2016
Pinnacle Entertainment (NASDAQ: PNK) is a publicly-traded gaming and entertainment company with casino resort properties in Nevada, Colorado, Louisiana, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania and a racetrack in Texas. During board tenure, the metrics on the growth generally arising from development, acquisitions and improved operations, measured at the closing of the GLPI-REIT transaction, were as follows: Casinos: 5 vs.15; Revenue: $524M vs. $2.3B; EBITDA: $73M vs. $617M; Operational cash flow: $39M vs. $408M; Share price: $5.50 vs. $39; Shares outstanding: 26M vs. 61M.
Significant Accomplishments
AV® Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
Recognized by the Clark County Bar Association for 12 years on the Southern Nevada Disciplinary Board (2013)
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Presentations & Publications
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Author, "Noncompete Clauses in Nevada - Termination for Cause and Equity Based Restrictions" (Nevada Gaming Lawyer - This article originally appeared in Nevada Gaming Lawyer (September 2024). It is republished here with permission of the State Bar of Nevada’s Gaming Law Section. All rights are reserved.)
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Speaker, "Nevada's Business Judgement Rule Post-Guzman" (Clark County Bar Association, Lunchtime Learning, April 2024)
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Author, "Shareholder primacy & the business judgment rule - the post Guzman hangover in Nevada" (Lexology February 2024)
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Author, "Fiduciary Duties & Excessive Director Compensation in Nevada- a Quick Comment" (Lexology February, 2024)
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Author, “Shareholder Primacy in Nevada, the Business Judgment Rule, Guzman and Goodbye to “Inherent
Fairness”" (Lexology January 2024)
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Author, “The Doctrine of Alter Ego – Piercing the Veil – Nevada," (November 2022)
Author, "United States: Mediation: A Litigation Alternative," Mondaq (September 2013)
Author, "Mediation: A Litigation Alternative," Nevada Business Magazine (July 2013), republished
Instructor, "Race Track to Casino," Independent Study Class, Miami University (Spring 2012)
Speaker, “The Role of Audit Committees in a Publicly Traded Company,” Miami University (October 2011)
Author, "The Generation Skipping Tax and the Individual Trustee," Estate Gifts and Trust Journal
Author, "Nevada Living Will Statute," Inter Alia (Nevada Bar Journal)
Bruce has lectured undergraduate and graduate classes at Miami University, and has presented before the Association of American Law Schools, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, National Judicial College, and First Boston's High Yield Conference.
Hobbies
Cycling, hiking/mountaineering; Italian and German languages and travel.