VEGAS INC Magazine - Latest Las Vegas business news, features and commentaries about gaming, tourism, real estate and more
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/146289
J U LY 2 9 , 2 0 1 3 / Y O U R b u s i n e s s - t o - b u s i n e s s w e e k ly SPECIAL FOCUS LAWYERS AND THE LEGAL INDUSTRY This month, VEGAS INC highlights attorneys and the Las Vegas Valley's legal community. TONY HSIEH HAS COMPETITION in DOWNTOWN PROPERTY GRAB LEILA NAVIDI NEW APPROACH: Half Price Lawyers owner and attorney Glenn Truitt offers candy to a child during First Friday outside his Charleston Boulevard office. Truitt uses unconventional techniques to market his law firm, tactics that rankle many more traditional lawyers. Truitt said he is under constant scrutiny to prove his claims. The rise of retail law Traditional law firms with referral-based business are being challenged by newcomers armed with TV and radio ads By Richard N. Velotta Senior staff writer L see DOWNTOWN, page 15 awyer Glenn Truitt stands downtown, passing out T-shirts and cigarette lighters to art fans and hipsters mulling about First Friday. The trinkets bear the name of Truitt's law firm, Half Price Lawyers. ¶ Truitt hopes to meet people in the neighborhood and flaunt his firm to potential customers. He's also working to change the public's percep- tion about how a law office should represent clients. ¶ They're unorthodox marketing methods that rankle many of Southern Nevada's more traditional lawyers; Truitt said he is under constant scrutiny to prove the "half price" claims he advertises. Even his firm's name elicits questions from the State Bar of Nevada, which monitors attorney ads. see LAWYERS, page 16 | 2 9 J U LY 2 0 1 3 20130729_VI01_F.indd 1 By Joe Schoenmann staff writer Tony Hsieh has big plans for the redevelopment of downtown Las Vegas as his company, Zappos, prepares to move up to 1,500 people into old City Hall. But despite spending well over $100 million to purchase dozens of acres of property — old motels, empty lots, empty storefronts and more empty lots — Hsieh's Downtown Project isn't the only player in downtown's "SimCity" game to rebuild the area. The Downtown Project has dedicated $200 million to real estate. Most of the purchases have been made since the start of 2012, including the purchase of 90 parcels totaling 50 acres for $110 million. With additional purchases since then, the Downtown Project's total comes to about $193 million, according to Geoffrey West, an investment specialist with Cushman & Wakefield Commerce, a commercial real estate firm. But that's only half the story. Hsieh and the Downtown Project may have begun downtown's revival, but others are following. | INSIDE TODAY PILOT PERFORMANCE | P. 6 Would you change airplanes if your pilot had minimal experience flying? TOO MANY TAVERNS? | P. 7 Underage drinking is a growing problem in downtown's Fremont East District KEEPING SAFE | P. 10 How to protect your email, bank accounts and business from cyberattack THE LIST | P. 22 Technology companies, by employees 1 7/25/13 2:12:50 PM