Stephen Yoken, Esq.

Snell & Wilmer
Real Estate Law

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What made you want to become an attorney?

In all honesty, I was a philosophy major and at some point I figured out I needed to make a living. (Laughs) Since I was good with words, argument and analysis, law school was kind of a natural fit.

What were the professional challenges in 2016?

My practice is in commercial real estate transactions. [Snell & Wilmer] represents investors, lenders, owners of property, and a variety of other businesses. We also represent some local banks as well as major national and international clients. In general, were still recovering from the recession in Las Vegas. The main issue for my clients is just the economic climate. It’s been kind of a roller coaster because we were the biggest boom town, and then we were the biggest recession town, so I think just navigating that has been difficult.

What are some of your goals for 2017?

My goals are really to just continue providing the best service to my clients, both in terms of the quality of legal work, and the promptness of the service and getting things done. In my mind, that’s every bit as important as the high-quality work we perform: giving good service.

Are there unique challenges to practicing law in Las Vegas?

One thing that distinguishes Nevada from places like California is that we often don’t have as much legal authority [to reference], so a lot of times we have to guess what the court will do. If you’re practicing in California or New York, you can just do some research and you’ll usually find something that’s a similar case that was already decided before. The good news is, we have a lot of opportunities for creativity.

The Firm, P.C. is a boutique Las Vegas law firm founded by Preston Rezaee, Esq. Preston Rezaee is also the founder and Editor in Chief of Vegas Legal Magazine.