Gaming lawyers Giordano, Cabot reunite

Gaming attorney Greg Giordano is leaving his partnership at Snell & Wilmer and is changing buildings at the Howard Hughes Center.

Giordano is joining Lewis and Roca, where he will reunite with Tony Cabot, his longtime compatriot at Lionel Sawyer & Collins. The move becomes official Monday.

Lewis and Roca is located at 3993 Howard Hughes Parkway and Snell & Wilmer is at 3883 Howard Hughes Parkway.

The move is more about the challenging economic times rather than address.

Giordano made headlines in January 2006 when he left Lionel Sawyer & Collins after 12 years to establish a gaming law practice in the Las Vegas office of Arizona-based Snell & Wilmer.

At the time, the switch seemed to shake the legal community, coming 10 months after Cabot ended his 23-year career at the firm to join Lewis & Roca, another Arizona-based legal shop, to start a gaming practice.

Out-of-state law firms were lured by Las Vegas’ booming economy three years ago, establishing practices in Nevada and either luring top-notch Las Vegas lawyers or forming partnerships with Las Vegas-based law firms.

Since then, the economy has slowed. As the casino industry goes through a financial restructuring over the next few years, new gaming companies — in need of legal representation — could be formed.