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IN BUSINESS COURTS TOP LITIGATOR WITHDRAWS FROM RIGHTHAVEN CASES By Steve Green senior staff writer Dale Cendali, one of the top U.S. copyright attorneys, made it clear March 21 that she's no longer representing struggling copyright enforcement company Righthaven LLC. Righthaven is the copyright enforcement partner of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and formerly of the Denver Post. As a company — not a law firm — Righthaven tried to profit with copyright infringement litigation involving 275 no-warning lawsuits filed during the past two years. But its efforts backfired and the company appears to have collapsed DEVELOPMENT MGM DESIGNER PROVIDES A GLIMPSE OF ROOM RENOVATION PLANNING By Ron Sylvester staff writer Jeanne Lynne Starling looked into the bathroom mirror in one of the older rooms at the MGM Grand. "I'd be scared to put on my makeup here," she said, looking at the overhead light. Starling's unpleasant experience happened in a room that was scheduled for a makeover as part of an extensive room renovation project launched by MGM in October. When the bathroom is finished, it will feature a mirror framed in lights that will illuminate the faces of guests, so makeup application isn't frightful. Starling is to MGM Resorts International what cable TV designer Candace Olson is to HGTV. But instead of being limited to hundreds of dollars in a made-for-television makeover, Starling is working with a budget of $160 million in a room redo at the second-largest hotel in the world. She also worked on the designs for the new rooms at the Bellagio, another MGM project. The 19-year-old MGM Grand is one of at least five Las Vegas hotels to renovate their rooms in the past year, including the Flamingo, Caesars Palace and the Bellagio on the Strip, along with El Cortez and the Plaza downtown. Last week, the Golden Gate provided an update on major renovations and additions at its historical hotel and casino. The projects are part of a trend of millions of dollars in spending to upgrade and redo rooms at Vegas resorts, including those at the Wynn, 12 COURTESY KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES: MGM Grand is renovating its rooms for the first time in about a decade. as well as Treasure Island and the Tropicana. The Las Vegas Sun, a sister publication of VEGAS INC, got a peek inside some of the newest rooms last month. It's been about a decade since the MGM Grand's rooms were updated. That was before many travelers had smartphones and before the dawn of iPods and iPads. In the latest round of renovations happening across the city, all of the hotels have added more convenient outlets for charging multiple devices, along with sound systems that include docking stations for people who carry their music libraries in their pockets. The designs are aimed at helping people try to forget that they're staying in a hotel. "There's a lot of talk in the industry about having a residential feel," said Starling, director of design development for MGM Resorts International. "We try to use several different color palettes and designs to try and get away from a cookie-cutter look." Embroidered throw pillows, rich desert-inspired colors in shades of persimmon, fuchsia and taupe, and contemporary furnishings highlight the room redux across Vegas. One nifty innovation at MGM Grand is a safe tucked away in a nightstand that's the size and shape of a laptop. There's no charging station inside the safe, however. "We found that produces a lot of heat inside the safe, which is not good for your laptop," Starling said. MGM's rooms come equipped with more efficient energy, including solar- powered shades that rise and fall with the flip of a switch. Besides the cost, room renovations require precise planning and shutting down entire sections of the hotel. When one floor of rooms is under construction, the floors above and below the renovations are closed as well. The move is designed to create a buffer, minimizing noise for other guests at the hotel. The fun part comes in picking out the carpets, wall coverings and furnishings for each set of rooms. The Bellagio rooms were inspired by the changing garden displays in its Conservatory and the artwork lining the rest of the resort, with decor that reminds the visitor of flowers, plants and European style. MGM incorporates circular design to simulate motion and excitement. The designs include lively artwork, lamps that look like movie set lights and playful patterns on the wallpaper and carpeting. "What the MGM offers is a lot of entertainment with all the different shows," Starling said. "So we try to capture that in the atmosphere of the rooms." | 2 APRIL 2012 | as it's no longer filing required court briefs or attending hearings. Cendali, who signed on to represent Righthaven in a couple of cases last year as it struggled to beat back challenges to its lawsuits, hasn't been heard from in months in relation to Righthaven. Her name finally came up in mid- March, when a Righthaven appeal for which she is listed as one of the Righthaven attorneys of record was dismissed by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because Righthaven missed deadlines to file the required opening brief. That dismissal is just one of a snowballing series of legal setbacks in which Righthaven has been found to lack standing to file lawsuits, its assets have been stripped away for nonpayment of creditors and it faces the possibility of being found in contempt of court for noncompliance with a court order. Cendali said in the March 21 court filings that her work was completed on both of these issues last summer and that she was told at that time that Shawn Mangano, another outside attorney for Righthaven, would handle the rest of the cases by himself. Mangano, however, has not been heard from in weeks in relation to Righthaven. He hasn't officially withdrawn from the Righthaven cases, but he also hasn't appeared at the two most recent Righthaven hearings in Las Vegas. Defense attorneys and court clerks say their attempts to reach him by phone have been unsuccessful, and Righthaven was unrepresented during those hearings. With Righthaven claiming for months it couldn't afford to pay creditors, it appeared one or more of Righthaven's investors had paid Mangano by pumping new capital into the company for that purpose. It's unclear how much Righthaven may owe its outside attorneys, including Mangano and Cendali. ''Save for the initial retainer provided by Righthaven, Righthaven has not paid any of the legal fees due to my firm,'' Cendali added.