By Dave Berns
Review-Journal
Henderson developer Mark Advent is seeking at least $900 million in punitive and compensatory damages from New
Frontier owner Phil Ruffin and Ruffin business partner Craig Dudley, arguing that the pair stole his idea to build
a San Francisco-themed hotel-casino, according to a Tuesday U.S. District Court filing.
Ruffin announced in January that he plans to implode the Strip resort within two years to make way for a $700 million
San Francisco-themed resort, a project that Advent argues he first presented to Ruffin and Dudley in 1997.
"The conduct of (Ruffin and Dudley) was intentional, fraudulent, oppressive, malicious and done in a reckless
and wanton disregard for the rights of Advent and thereby warrant the imposition of punitive damages," argues
the court filing.
Advent's counter-claim was delivered in response to a preemptive suit filed by Ruffin, who in January sued Advent's
Advent Communications & Entertainment in hopes of establishing his right to develop the San Francisco-themed
property. That suit argues that the San Francisco concept falls within the public domain, and Advent lacks copyrights
or trademarks for the name.
Ruffin lawyer Frank Schreck said Tuesday he had not seen Advent's counterclaim.
Advent is credited with the idea of the New York-New York hotel-casino on the Strip. He claims to have developed
the San Francisco resort idea in 1995.
In 1996, Ruffin approached then-Frontier owner Margaret Elardi to determine whether she'd be interested in jointly
developing a San Francisco-themed hotel-casino on a vacant 16-acre parcel that sits next to the Frontier. Those
discussions fell apart in early 1998 when Ruffin bought the Frontier from Elardi.
In late 1997, Ruffin partner Craig Dudley contacted Advent, told him that the two partners had reviewed the San
Francisco plans previously submitted to Elardi and said they were "extremely interested" in pursuing
a joint venture with Advent, according to the filing.
"From that point and throughout the majority of 1999, (Ruffin and Dudley) engaged in a systematic effort to
derive as much information, and to obtain as many detailed materials concerning or embodying Advent's plans, ...."
according to the filing. The document argues that Dudley and Ruffin said they had no intention of building a San
Francisco-themed gaming property without Advent.
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