Nevada Attorney
Ken McKenna

Early in his career Ken McKenna attracted the high profile cases. Every attorney is an individual, and some are more individual than others. Ken McKenna was destined to do great things as a lawyer from the day he was sworn in to the Nevada bar to begin what has now been over 25 years of unique service to his broad range of clients culminating in a resume of unique and interesting cases.

Ken McKenna became nationally and internationally famous when he took on the teenage suicide case against the heavy metal band Judas Priest and CBS records. In an historic legal battle Ken McKenna brought to the publics’ attention that the band and record company were using “subliminal messages” to enhance the sales of their albums. It was the subliminal message “do it” repeated several times in the song "Better By You, Better Than Me" which was the alleged cause of two Nevada boys attempting and committing suicide.

After the extreme experience of successfully taking the giant CBS records through a trial, with their local and New York attorneys throwing everything they had at Mr. McKenna, he emerged ready and willing to take on the biggest and the baddest of corporate defendants.

Ken McKenna thereafter sought out and was fortunate enough to be asked to take on the important cases involving critical social issues.

From landmark decisions in Sexual Harassment Law via the Mary Howard v. Nevada Highway Patrol jury trial which resulted in a $500,000.00 verdict to successfully defending Larry Peck against the death penalty, Ken McKenna has taken the tough cases and effectively represented his clients aggressively and to the best of his abilities.

This extraordinary experience and series of unique accomplishments all make Ken McKenna a one-of-a-kind Reno, Nevada trial attorney. He has confidence in his talents as a lawyer and knows how to fight for his clients without fear of the other side. These are abilities and talents unique to Ken McKenna because of his vast and varied experience as a Nevada trial lawyer.

The Judas Priest Trial
Judas Priest Heavy Metal Suicide Case

Two young men, both having difficulties adjusting to life, were huge Judas Priest fans. On a late December evening, just before Christmas, they were listening to the Judas Priest album Stained Class. They played it over and over. At some point they mutually decided that life wasn’t worth living for. They made a suicide pact and using a sawed-off shotgun attempted to carry it out. The first one placed the shotgun under his chin and pulled the trigger dying instantly. The second one picked up the shotgun now greasy with his friend's blood, placed it under his chin and pulled the trigger. He did not die. The bottom half of his face was gone and he now knew he wanted to live.

This tragic set of events led to the most famous lawsuit in music history. The surviving boys said that they felt compelled to commit suicide. He said that the music had influenced them to believe the answer to life was death and that they should do it.

Ken McKenna, a young lawyer at the time, was contacted by the deceased boy’s mother who had been told by the detectives working the case that this music (Heavy Metal) had been blamed for causing violent behavior and that she should get an attorney to look into it.

Ken McKenna accepted this unique and obviously difficult case to get to the bottom of the question of the negative influence of this album on these boys. Through extensive research and expert analysis it was discovered that there were subliminal messages on the album, specifically “do it” repeated over and over at the end of lyric lines.

Below you can listen to a sample of the actual audio evidence presented during the trial. This is a short clip of a single lyric from the song "Better by You, Better Than Me." Can you hear the subliminal "do it?"

Ken McKenna’s dedicated work in this case on behalf of a grieving mother established that the subliminals did exist, that subliminals are not protected speech under the first amendment to the Constitution, and that CBS records was liable in sanctions for not providing the original master tapes of the album to Ken McKenna’s experts for evaluation as they had been ordered to do by the court.

This landmark case is the first and only case to take a record company to trial on the issue of subliminal content. It changed the record companies’ attitude about their blanket immunity under the 1st amendment and caused them to rethink their responsibility for infecting young minds with dangerous subliminal commands.

Criminal Defense Attorney - Larry Peck vs. State of Nevada
Jury Finds Against The Death Penalty

Ken McKenna always wants to be the best lawyer he can be. He always wants to be on the top of his game. The way to know how great you are as a criminal defense attorney is to take on the hardest cases, the cases where the defendant has no public sympathy, where the crime is considered terrible and the stakes are the highest. Larry Peck was accused of shooting a police officer in the chest with a high powered rifle during a stand-off. The revered and beloved officer died at the scene.

The State sought the Death Penalty for Larry Peck. Whether you agree with the concept of a death penalty or not, the question in this case is does Larry Peck’s family have a right to try to prevent the State from executing him? Of course they do. They hired Ken McKenna to represent Larry Peck against the State seeking the Death Penalty.

No one believed that a person accused of this crime would be spared execution. Many seasoned lawyers and legal observers told Ken McKenna he did not have a chance to save Larry Peck from the death penalty.

Ken McKenna again, for the hundredth time in his unique and outstanding career as a true advocate for his client's cause, shrugged off the naysayers and went to work. Through an extremely effective defense for Larry Peck, incorporating everything Ken McKenna has come to know about jury trials, he utilized his unique abilities to talk to the jury in a way that is gentle, persuasive, and effective...

...the jury found against the Death Penalty.

Mary Howard vs. Reno, Nevada Highway Patrol
Landmark Sexual Harrassment Lawsuit - Judgement: $500,000

The Nevada Highway Patrol had always been a “boys club” from its inception. But times had changed and Mary Howard was one of the first women to qualify and become a member of this elite State law enforcement agency. She was sexually harassed and discriminated against. When Mary Howard sought help regarding this situation all she found were closed doors. When she sought legal help from attorneys they all said they couldn’t take on the Highway Patrol because of its power and prestige. The attorneys were too cowardly to help Mary Howard.

Then someone told Mary Howard about an aggressive attorney named Ken McKenna. Ken McKenna was the twelfth lawyer Mary Howard had seen. Ken McKenna immediately took her case and fought it all the way to Federal Court where a jury awarded her $500,000.00 dollars for her emotional distress.

Thereafter Ken McKenna has taken on almost every government entity in the State of Nevada for sexual harassment and gender discrimination. His relentless pursuit of justice has forced changes that will benefit many future employees.

Child Custody Attorney - Harrah vs. Harrah
One of the Country's Most Prominent Families

This case involved one of the most prominent family names in Nevada and the Country. The Harrah name is legendary in the gaming industry in Nevada and across the country where gaming is legal. Ken McKenna was sought out by the ex-wife in this case to achieve a change in the custody arrangement regarding her two children, that had been in place for years. There was a lot of water under the bridge and years of legal battling that had made the situation hostile. The odds were greatly against his client. The past record was against his client. The law was against his client and Ken McKenna took the case. He believed that he could somehow reunite this mother with her children and make a better quality of life for all of them.

These kinds of cases don’t fit into a defined legal mold. Ken McKenna knows that finesse, persuasion, and talented mediation can be more effective than years of all out war. Ultimately after one year of systematic work with a fantastic mediator these children were reunited with their mother and the whole family is enjoying the benefits of the peace that has been brokered between them. Ken McKenna has a great and ongoing relationship with these children and is always available to them if they need advice or help.

Family law is among the most difficult areas of law in which to achieve good and lasting results. When the results turn out as well as they did in this very complicated case it is important to take a minute and be thankful.

Southern Pacific Railroad vs. Cecil Davidson
Retiree Accused of Theft by Former Employer

Some cases are just outright fun and for attorney Ken McKenna, irresistible.

Cecil Davidson was a railroad retiree, an 80-year-old, blind, black man who had a criminal problem for which he came to Ken McKenna. Cecil had been receiving pension checks from the railroad for years. One day in his mail he received a railroad check made out to him for $50,277.00. He took it to the bank, where they confirmed it was good and he deposited it. Thereafter he spent it on kids and grandkids, and some on himself playing 21. Cecil liked 21 at Harrah’s because the dealers were nice to him and helped him play, considering he could not see his cards. Many months later the Railroad Police showed up at Cecil’s house demanding the money and saying he stole it. They arrested him and he was charged with theft.

Someone recommended Ken McKenna as the attorney he should see. He did so and Ken McKenna accepted the criminal defense of Cecil Davidson on the charge of theft.

At court Cecil would arrive in his best 30-year-old suit and tie, with his tattered and worn “lucky” straw hat, white cane and pipe and sit next to his lawyer Ken McKenna for the Trial by Jury.

The result, you guessed it, Not Guilty.