E. Leif Reid

Leif Reid is a partner in Lewis Roca's Litigation Practice. For nearly 20 years, Leif Reid has tried cases and prosecuted administrative hearings across the state of Nevada.

Leif focuses on complex business litigation and contested development matters. He has been the lead lawyer in numerous months-long jury and bench trials, as well as dozens of other trials and proceedings, including utility rate cases, writ petition proceedings, injunctions, and contested evidentiary hearings. These matters include appearances before: (1) all state and federal courts in Nevada; (2) state and local boards across the State of Nevada, including the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, the Nevada Tax Commission, and the TRPA; and (3) Federal administrative agencies, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the BLM, and the EPA. Leif has also successfully argued numerous cases on appeal to both the Nevada Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit.

Leif’s representations involve nearly all possible aspects of complex administrative litigation – multiple parties, extensive discovery, layers of procedure in different jurisdictions, and complex strategic decision-making.

Leif also has an extensive Liquor Law practice – representing all three tiers of the alcohol beverage industry – in primary source and franchise law disputes, as well as regulatory, licensing, legislative, and trade practices compliance matters. He has assisted his liquor clients in obtaining multimillion-dollar jury verdicts, permanent injunctive relief to protect brands and distribution rights from infringement, and regulatory and legislative changes strengthening Nevada’s three-tier liquor distribution system.

Leif has successfully defended energy companies, utilities, and developers in contested administrative cases in NEPA, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act cases aimed at preventing his clients’ projects from going forward.

Leif received his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1995, and was senior editor for the Stanford Law Review. Upon graduation, Leif served a clerkship with the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Procter Hug, Jr. After his clerkship, Leif gained extensive trial and appellate argument experience as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the White Collar Crime section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Las Vegas. Prior to founding Lewis Roca's Reno office, Leif was a partner at the Lionel Sawyer & Collins law firm.