Background and Experience:
For the past several decades, Tom Smock has assisted the world’s most successful gaming, hospitality and entertainment companies transcend unique challenges both in the United States, as well as international markets in Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
Tom joins the law firm after most recently serving as Chief Legal Officer for Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, an entity of the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, which became the first Native American casino operator to be licensed on the Las Vegas Strip corridor. Prior, Tom served as Special Counsel to Penn National Gaming during its expansion across the U.S. He also worked as Senior Vice President & General Counsel for the North and South American operations of gaming system and equipment manufacturer, Aristocrat, guiding its ventures into new markets in Mexico and Argentina.
From 2000 to 2007, Tom worked for the Las Vegas Sands’ organization, including full-time residency in Macau, China, as Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Compliance Chairperson for all of Las Vegas Sands’ Asian-based subsidiary companies during the opening of Macau’s first foreign owned casino, Sands, and groundbreaking development of what is now internationally known as the Cotai Strip, and Las Vegas Sands’ successful bid for the first casino license in Singapore.
Prior to Las Vegas Sands, Tom worked as in-house counsel for Caesars Palace and the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. Before his exclusive in-house work, Tom was a commercial litigator in private practice in New York and Colorado.
Tom has been featured in Corporate Counsel (“Casino Vendor Hits the Jackpot”); quoted in The New Yorker (“The God of Gamblers”); and appeared in a Perry Mason feature movie (“Lady in the Lake”).
Professional Activities:
- Original Founding Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Macau
- Past Member of Board of Trustees for the International Association of Gaming Advisors
- Past Member of Board of Trustees for the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling
- Licensed as a key gaming executive in numerous States as well as Canadian Provinces
Military Experience:
- Lieutenant & Platoon Leader (Ohio National Guard 1980-84 / U.S. Army Reserve 1984-86)
- Graduate of U.S. Army Engineer Officer and Military Police Schools
Lectures:
- Interconnectivity of Gaming Machines, GLI Regulators Roundtable (Las Vegas)
- Regulatory Compliance, American Bar Association (Las Vegas)
- Casino Industry Regulations, UNLV Hotel Administration Program (Las Vegas)
- Casino Marketing to The World, Intl. Assoc. of Gaming Advisors (Chicago)
- Corporate Social Responsibility, Canadian Chamber of Commerce (Macau)
- Money Laundering: A Global Issue, A Major Concern, Global Gaming Expo (Las Vegas)
- International Due Diligence, Intl. Assoc. of Gaming Advisors (Lisbon, Portugal)
Authorship:
- “Addressing Slot Machine Malfunctions”, Casino Enterprise Management
- “Macau Gaming Law Primer”, Casino Lawyer
- “Macau Updates its Slot Approval Process”, Global Gaming Business
Bar Admissions:
- Licensed in the State of Nevada
- Licensed, but inactive status, in the States of Colorado, New York and Pennsylvania
- Admitted to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Education:
- Juris Doctorate from the University of Colorado in Boulder
- Bachelor Degree in Philosophy/Interdisciplinary Studies from Miami (Ohio) University