Judge denies Las Vegas Sands bid to void us$ 58.6 million award

Los Angeles lawyer John O’Malley, who represented Richard Suen, said after the decision by Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt this week that he hoped Las Vegas Sands "would pay the judgment promptly."

Las Vegas Sands is expected to post a bond on the judgment within five days. Rusty Hardin, a Houston-based attorney for Las Vegas Sands, promised to appeal the case to the Nevada Supreme Court.

The judgment consisted of us$ 43.8 million awarded by a jury and us$ 14.8 million in interest tacked onto the verdict. Las Vegas Sands chairman and chief executive Sheldon Adelson attended the hearing for about an hour. Suen did not attend.

In May, a five-woman, three-man jury decided Suen should be compensated for helping Las Vegas Sands win a lucrative Macau gambling license in 2002. He filed his lawsuit in 2004 after failing to reach a compensation agreement with the company.

Suen helped set up a series of meetings between Adelson, Weidner and other company executives in Beijing in July 2001 with members of the Chinese government. O’Malley argued to the jury that the meeting paved the way for Las Vegas Sands to win its gambling license.

During trial, Adelson and Las Vegas Sands President Bill Weidner denied Suen helped the company win a shared gambling concession with Hong Kong-based Galaxy Entertainment.