Jurors have begun deliberations in a breach of contract case against casino giant Las Vegas Sands after hearing conflicting stories from lawyers about the role a Hong Kong businessman played in helping the company enter the lucrative Chinese gambling enclave of Macau.
Sands attorney Richard Sauber said in his closing argument that the company knew about opportunities in Macau in the early 2000s and did not need the help of plaintiff Richard Suen.
Attorneys for Suen have countered that it was impossible to know how things would have turned out if casino mogul and Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson had not consulted with their client, who is suing for $328 million.
Sands now earns about 60 percent of its revenue in Macau, which has emerged as the world’s most lucrative gambling market.
Suen was awarded $58.6 million in 2008, but the Nevada Supreme Court overturned the verdict.
Suen filed the lawsuit in 2004 after failing to reach a compensation agreement with Sands.
The multibillionaire Adelson acknowledged that Sands’ chief operating officer agreed in 2001 to pay Suen a “success fee” of $5 million, plus 2 percent of the company’s profits from its Macau casinos. But he said Suen would have had to hand-deliver a gambling license to earn that fee.
Sands argued that while Suen arranged a few meetings and gave the company some advice, his efforts were ultimately useless and unnecessary.
On Thursday, Suen’s lawyer John O’Malley drew an analogy to a person who hires a real estate agent to sell his home, saying even if the homeowner finds a buyer quickly and easily, the agent is still entitled to collect his commission, or at least a portion of it.
Topics Lawsuits
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