Leland Eugene Backus, J.D., C.L.M.P.

Leland Eugene (Gene) 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.

His law firm, Backus | Burden, is located in Las Vegas with 7 lawyers specializing in construction law, professional liability, 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.

He has been chief trial counsel or regional counsel on some of the largest complex cases in the country from the MGM Fire Litigation where he was appointed Liaison Counsel to the Federal Court and other mass tort cases including Agent Orange, asbestos, Dupont Hotel Fire Litigation, Pepcon Plant Explosion, Bone Screw Litigation, Yellow Brass Litigation, tobacco, diet drug and City Center Litigation.

Mr. Backus is a trained and approved arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association for construction and commercial disputes.

Mr. Backus has been selected as a Super Lawyer every year since 2007, as well as Best Attorneys in America. U.S. News & World Report has his firm as one of the Best Law Firms in Nevada. In 2025, Mr. Backus was awarded the Edward P. Meyerson Lifetime Achievement Award by Construction Lawyers Society of America. The award recognizes excellence and commitment at the highest level over one’s career. Candidates are generally lawyers who have been leaders in construction law. The award honors visionaries who have created constituencies and inspired, mobilized and/or unified others in expanding and developing the specialty of construction law within the justice system and in furtherance of the common good. Recipients are those whose leadership has had national or international impact, who practice the art of advocacy at a preeminent standing and who are committed to those they represent in the pursuits to which they are assigned. Additionally, he has been awarded the designation of Certified Litigation Management Professional.

Mr. Backus is a member of the ABA Forum Committee on Construction Industry for Construction Management, Design/Build and Related Concepts. He has been appointed as Nevada Chairperson of the Defense Research Institute Construction Law Committee Marketing/Publicity Subcommittee. Mr. Backus is director of Eagle International Associates, Inc., a network of law firms and adjustors throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.

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 construction law, mass disaster litigation, computer use in litigation, litigation practice, claims presentation, insurance law, pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, and a variety of litigation and procedural areas of the law.