Las Vegas Monorail Begins Service on July 15, Nossaman Plays Significant Role

LOS ANGELES (July 14, 2004) - Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott LLP, a law firm with the leading infrastructure practice in the country, has been involved in virtually every aspect of the Las Vegas Monorail project, the first privately financed urban grade transit system in the United States.

Nossaman was involved in drafting state legislation to authorize a private franchise to MGM MIRAGE and Caesar's, two of the largest gaming companies in the world; negotiating the terms and conditions of the project's use of Clark County highways; drafting the fixed price Design-Build-Operate-Maintain contracts with Granite and Bombardier, the contractor and systems supplier; assisting in development of the plan of finance, which involved the transfer of the project to a nonprofit corporation owner, $50 million in subordinated loans from contractors and related resorts and a $650 million multi-tier tax-exempt revenue bond offering, one of the largest municipal bond issues in Nevada history. Currently, Nossaman is assisting with the extension of the project to downtown Las Vegas, which is expected to leverage new funding from the Federal Transit Administration and federal credit assistance from the US Department of Transportation with new revenue bonds.

"The Las Vegas Monorail employed some of the most sophisticated contracting and financing tools being used in the world today to deliver its latest great attraction," said Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott LLP's Geoffrey S. Yarema. "We would expect nothing less from the nation's entertainment capital. The question everyone is asking is "Can it be done elsewhere?" Nothing translates exactly from one place to another, but already other regions are seeing opportunities for using the Monorail's innovation. The rules of the game are definitely changing."

Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott LLP specializes in complex civil litigation; infrastructure; land use, environmental, real property and water; healthcare; corporate transactions and public policy law. The firm represents a variety of public and private sector clients with interests ranging from aerospace and transportation to real estate development and water. Founded in 1959, Nossaman has more than 130 attorneys and lobbyists throughout offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Irvine and the Washington, D.C. area.