GGRAsia – David Smail new chief legal officer, Scientific Games

David Smail new chief legal officer, Scientific Games

Jul 29, 2015 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News

U.S.-based Scientific Games Corp has appointed David W. Smail as executive vice president and chief legal officer, effective August 3. Mr Smail will be based at the company’s global corporate headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, the firm said in a Tuesday press release.

Most recently, Mr Smail was executive vice president and general counsel of Morgans Hotel Group Co, which has interests in North America, Europe and the Middle East. He served as chief legal officer of that company from 2006 to 2014.

“With more than 20 years of leadership and accomplishments in international business and the legal profession, David’s broad-based global legal and public company expertise, and dynamic leadership in support of business objectives, aligns well with our growth strategy,” Scientific Games’ president and chief executive Gavin Isaacs said in a prepared statement.

Mr Smail received his law doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1991 and his bachelor in Biology and French from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1987. He succeeds Ms Katie Lever, the company’s executive vice president and general counsel. She will remain with Scientific Games until the end of August “to facilitate the transition”, the firm said.

Scientific Games, originally a specialist in lottery equipment and management, last year acquired gaming equipment maker Bally Technologies Inc in a deal valued at US$5.1 billion. The deal came around one year after Bally Technologies acquired Nevada-based SHFL entertainment Inc in a US$1.3 billion transaction.