Cabot to lead firm’s gaming effort

By Liz Benston (contact)

Monday, March 21, 2005 | 11:07 a.m.

One of the gaming industry's top lawyers has joined another firm to lead that company's new gaming law practice.

Tony Cabot, a former partner with the well-connected Las Vegas firm Lionel Sawyer & Collins, today joins Lewis and Roca, a Phoenix-based law firm that is aiming to grow several areas of its practice, including gaming.

Cabot, who specializes in gaming and Internet gaming law, said he moved to Lewis and Roca for the opportunity to head a gaming practice at "one of the most prominent firms in the Southwest."

Cabot, who said the opportunity presented itself recently, said Lewis and Roca will be looking to hire additional gaming attorneys to fill out the practice.

At 17 attorneys, Lewis and Roca is a mid-size firm in Las Vegas but is one of the largest in the Southwest, with 170 attorneys across four offices in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson and Albuquerque.

The Las Vegas office was founded in 1999.

"We have a strong commitment to growing the Las Vegas office," said Marti Ashcraft, supervising partner of Lewis and Roca's Las Vegas branch. "I've known Tony for many years and have always had the greatest respect for his knowledge and expertise in gaming law."

"I was admitted to the bar in 1979 and Tony was admitted in 1981 so we've been practicing law about the same length of time," she said.

Lewis and Roca practices some gaming law out of its Phoenix office, where attorney Stephen Hart is based. Hart, former director of the Arizona Department of Gaming, specializes in gaming and tribal law.

Cabot ends a 23-year career with Lionel Sawyer, Las Vegas' largest law firm with more than 50 local attorneys.

"Tony is one of the most talented and creative and respected gaming law attorneys in the world," said Bob Faiss, a partner at Lionel Sawyer who has worked alongside Cabot. Cabot was hired by Lionel Sawyer from Arizona State University's law school.

He is a founding member of the International Masters of Gaming Law Association, an education and communications group for gaming attorneys, and has written several reference books on gambling law and Internet gambling. He also teaches gaming courses at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Lionel Sawyer & Collins has the world's largest gaming law department, with 12 attorneys specializing in gaming and administration law.