Vice Chair of Judiciary Committee Under Active State Bar Investigation

Today, Democratic leadership released their committee assignments for the upcoming 2025 legislative session (see below). One notable assignment from Assembly Leader Steve Yeager is his selection of Assemblywoman Elaine Marzola as the Vice Chair of the Judiciary committee.

Today, Speaker @SteveYeagerNV announced full committee assignments for the 2025 legislative session. pic.twitter.com/Oci2VtlCk6

— Assembly Democrats (@nvassemblydems) December 3, 2024

Today, Senate Majority Leader @Nicole4Nevada announced Senate Democrats’ caucus leadership and committee membership ahead of the 2025 Legislative Session. See more 🔽 pic.twitter.com/4UL11FztWv

— NV Senate Democrats (@NVSenateDems) November 22, 2024

As reported by The Globe, Assemblywoman Marzola is under an active Nevada Bar Association investigation after a compliant was filed against her in September.

At that time, The Globe reported that Marzola received a combined $22,500 in campaign donations from the Nevada Resorts PAC and MGM Resorts International while representing plaintiffs in lawsuits against their members and properties. These donations and lawsuits raised ethical questions and could have given her incentive to not provide her clients with effective legal representation.

According to the Nevada Bar Association, her legal actions against and campaign donations from the defendants named in her lawsuits could be a conflict of interest if not properly disclosed to her clients.

Per our report:

Since May 2022, Marzola has represented four plaintiffs in lawsuits against Wynn Las Vegas, Caesars Entertainment, Mandalay Bay, New York-New York Hotel & Casino, and Aria Resort & Casino Holdings, all of which are members of the Nevada Resorts Association that funds the PAC. The Nevada Resorts Association launched the Nevada Resorts PAC in January of 2022.

Three of these cases were dismissed and two are still active.

In a “slip and fall” case against the Aria, which also named MGM as a defendant, Marzola accepted her donation from MGM two days after a short-trial discovery offer for the case. The case was dismissed with prejudice on May 28, 2024.

Ellen Whittemore, the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Wynn, is also the Chair of the Board of Nevada Resorts Association. This raises further concerns, as the chair of the organization donating to Marzola’s campaign is the lead lawyer for the company that Marzola is suing.

The Globe attempted to reach Assemblywoman Marzola for comment as to if she advised her clients of her potential conflict of interest. Our request went unanswered. The Nevada Bar Association has confirmed that an investigation is ongoing and could take up to six months to complete. The Globe has reached out to Assembly Leader Yeager for comment on this appointment. We all update the article with his comment if and when received.