VEGAS ICON THE REAL JOE W. BROWN OF LAS VEGAS –By Mark Fierro and Jeff Haney
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as Vegas has always been the melting pot of America. Everyone is from someplace else and perhaps no one made more of the opportunities in Southern Nevada than Joe W. Brown of Jolley Urga Woodbury & Holthus. Brown came up at a time of extraordinary opportunity in Southern Nevada. The ultimate people person gives this bit of advice to aspiring young attorneys: “This is such a unique state where the common man, the average guy, has access; that common guy can get a break here as much as any place in the world. Knowing how to play tennis didn’t hurt.” Vegas Legal: Where did you go to law school? Joe W. Brown: I went to law school at Washington and Lee in Lexington, Virginia, in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. I went to the University of Virginia undergraduate. VL: How did you end up in Las Vegas? JWB: A judge here named Al Wartman went to law school back there and he recruited me. He knew the dean’s secretary, and he called her and said, who in the graduating class is adventurous enough that I might be able to talk him into coming out here? VL: How many people were in Las Vegas when you arrived? JWB: About 160,000 in the county. That was in 1968. VL: So you get to Las Vegas. It’s the high frontier. Decatur is the end of civilization. JWB: Yes, it was dirt roads beyond that. VL: It was “Here Be Dragons” after that. What kind of law did you practice? JWB: Well, I was lucky. During my first year here as a law clerk, I met so many people who were warm and friendly, and had us to their homes for dinner. My wife and I were invited to dinner with the likes of Herb Jones, George Dickerson, Chuck Deaner, Harry Claiborne, Louis Wiener. They were all icons in those days. I met the governor, Paul Laxalt, shortly after arriving in the state, and within six weeks I was playing tennis with him! He said, let’s play tennis. And next time I saw him, and that was six weeks later, I was playing tennis with the governor. Within two months of arriving in the state, I was playing tennis with the governor. And I met Al Benedict, Kirk Kerkorian, Bob Maheu and all those people who could not have been nicer to two kids from Virginia, you know, in their 20s that had no relatives, no money, nothing. I was making $600 a month and my wife made $640 as a teacher.
VL: What time of year did you get here? JWB: July 7th. It was 115 degrees the day we crossed the dam. We lived in Boulder City. The judge lived in Boulder City and we lived in his garage for the months of July and August, and then moved into town when school started because Pam was teaching at Brinley Junior High. It was a brand new school and she taught eighth grade there. VL: They say the smart man knows everything; the wise man knows everyone. You knew everyone. How did that arc, that beginning, play into the rest of your career? JWB: Oh, just because everyone was so friendly to us, and I’m a glad-hander anyway, you know, I really like people. So if I met someone, I remembered them and vice versa. And then Paul Laxalt took me under his wing and I went to work for the Laxalt law firm that had just opened up a Las Vegas office. And they invited me, and do you remember Eddie LeBaron, the former All-American, All-Pro quarterback for the Redskins and Cowboys? I worked with Eddie, who had been my hero when I was about 12 years old. The firm belonged to the Las Vegas Country Club, which was where was all the VIPs in town were members. I met them all and played tennis with them. I played tennis with Kirk Kerkorian. He just happened to be at the court and was looking for a game and I played with him. So he and I became friends. Bob Maheu treated us like we were important. It was one person after another. VL: How did you get the street in Las Vegas, Joe W. Brown Drive, named after you? JWB: Well that’s not me. That’s a common misconception. It’s named after another Joe W. Brown, who was good friends with Benny Binion. This Joe Brown was a Texas oil man. He took over the Horseshoe for several years in the 1950s when Benny Binion went to prison for tax evasion. My dad and brother drove through Las Vegas in the summer of 1958, and they sent me a postcard from what was then Joe W. Brown’s Horseshoe Club. My first couple of weeks here, Judge John Mowbray, who was then on the state Supreme Court, knew I was Catholic. He said, I understand you’re from Virginia and you’re a fine Catholic boy. Now, I want you to join the Knights of Columbus. I didn’t know what the Knights of Columbus was at the time. But he said the bailiff here, Charlie Horden, he belongs to the Knights. He said, I understand your ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War and I want to join the Sons of the American Revolution. I had never heard of that either. So I went to the Knights of Columbus meeting about the second week I was in town. And the bailiff introduced me to federal Judge Roger Foley. That was a huge deal for
