Attorney suspended, faces disbarment after misconduct finding in Cristiano Ronaldo case

A Las Vegas attorney found to have committed misconduct in a case against Cristiano Ronaldo has been temporarily suspended and faces disbarment, court records show.

Leslie Stovall, who has been licensed in Nevada since 1985, was previously ordered to pay Ronaldo’s attorneys more than $330,000 in legal fees.

In a civil case, he represented Kathryn Mayorga, who alleged that the soccer star raped her in Las Vegas in 2009. U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey dismissed the case in 2022, ruling that Stovall “crossed the border of ethical behavior before he filed this action, and his disregard for the rules of this court has continued unabated.”

A magistrate judge had previously recommended the dismissal, finding that Stovall based the case on leaked and stolen documents that were privileged communications between Ronaldo and his attorneys.

Representatives for Ronaldo made a deal in 2010 for Mayorga to receive $375,000. His attorneys have said he and Mayorga had consensual sex.

Daniel Hooge, the State Bar of Nevada counsel overseeing attorney discipline, confirmed Stovall’s discipline stems from his actions in the Ronaldo case.

An attorney has an obligation to obey the law, and obtaining documents that an attorney knows are stolen is a violation of professional rules, Hooge said.

Stovall did not respond to requests for comment. A woman who answered the phone at his office Tuesday said he was meeting with a client.

The Nov. 21 suspension order from the Nevada Supreme Court allows him to continue representing existing clients until Jan. 1.

A disciplinary panel has recommended that Stovall be disbarred, and the Supreme Court is still reviewing that recommendation, according to Hooge and the order.

Records show the panel made its recommendation in June 2024.

“Respondent’s actions — his deliberate procurement of stolen documents, his bad faith in wielding them against the sanctity of attorney-client privilege, and his dilatory tactics of wearing down opponents through exhaustive, petty legal conflicts, remain a threat to the public,” Hooge wrote in an April petition requesting temporary suspension.

Hooge acknowledged in the filing that it would have been appropriate to request the suspension immediately after the disciplinary decision and said the state bar regretted not doing so.

Stovall has said previously he acted justifiably because he did not steal the confidential documents and it could not be proved that they were stolen.

According to filings in Stovall’s disciplinary case, the German newspaper Der Spiegel reported on Mayorga’s sexual assault claims, quoting from stolen documents.

“Football Leaks, a website of leaked soccer documents, gave Der Spiegel the information,” according to the state bar’s complaint.

Stovall reached out to Rui Pinto, the person behind the leak website, and requested records, including communications of attorneys representing Ronaldo, the bar alleged.

The bar said Pinto complied, providing documents that included emails between Ronaldo’s lawyers.

In his own filing, Stovall denied contacting Pinto.

Stovall was sentenced to a year of probation in 2001 for filing a false income tax return after admitting he did not report income of about $116,000.

He was suspended for two years as a result of that case.

The attorney was also publicly reprimanded in 2020, 2016 and 1997.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.