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Leland Eugene Backus was born in Winnemucca, Nevada on August 8, 1947. He is a Juris Doctor graduate of University of California at Los Angeles having received honors in the Order of Barristers and Moot Court. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree at University of Nevada at Las Vegas in Economics in 1969.

He is an author for the Nevada Civil Practice Manual and has authored several articles in the field of litigation. He has lectured on an international basis on a variety of topics pertaining to mass disaster litigation, computer use in litigation, litigation practice, construction law, claims presentation, insurance law, pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, and a variety of litigation and procedural areas of the law.

Mr. Backus was chief trial counsel or special counsel in the MGM Grand Fire Litigation, Hilton Hotel fire litigation, PEPCON plant explosion litigation, asbestos litigation, Agent Orange litigation, and is presently counsel in bone screw litigation, tobacco litigation and Redux litigation. He is also a director of Eagle International Associates, Inc., a network of law firms and adjustors throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Mr. Backus was a trustee and past chairman of the Nevada Law Foundation, past president of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Southern Nevada, past director of The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee, past charter president of the Exchange Club of Las Vegas, and former Chairman of the State of Nevada Certified Court Reporters Board.

Mr. Backus is a member of the ABA Forum Committee on the Construction Industry for Construction Management, Design/Build and Related Concepts and a member of the Construction Specifications Institute. He is a trained and approved arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association for construction and commercial disputes. He currently has been appointed as Nevada Chairperson of the Defense Research Institute Construction Law Committee Marketing/Publicity Subcommittee.

His law firm, Backus • Carranza is located in Las Vegas with 6 lawyers with practice emphasis in professional liability, construction, hotel/casino, complex and insurance litigation, health care law, and international law. The firm provides representation to hotels, general contractors, construction managers, subcontractors, design professionals, lawyers, physicians, hospitals, medical device manufacturers, product manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and numerous public companies. The firm provides business and commercial transactional services to their clients.

Mr. Backus is a founding benefactor of the Nevada Law Foundation Colleagues and received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for helping start this program. His contributions to the poor and less fortunate has continued throughout his career.