Page 4 - BusinessWest March 18, 2024

Making His Case
Louie Theros Transitions from the Courtroom to the Casino Floor
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
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ouie Theros is a trial lawyer by trade. In fact, his wife has told him on numerous occasions that she has never seen him happier than when he’s in the courtroom trying a case.
He would agree with that assess- ment wholeheartedly.
“I loved the strategy of it and sitting down with my colleagues and working themes of cases,” he told BusinessWest. “How we were going to deal with the opposite side’s parries, changes in strategy, and how we had to learn and deal with the jury and get them to like us and our case. I loved everything about it.”
“One of my goals here is to drive culture among employees and between our hourlies and our managers.”
But while he’s energized by the various ele- ments of a courtroom fight, he acknowledged that his current challenge is probably the big- gest and most intriguing of his career.
Indeed, Theros has seen his most recent career aspiration come to fruition with his appointment as president and chief operating officer of MGM Springfield, succeeding Chris Kelley, who held that role for four challenge- laden years (he arrived not long before the pan- demic descended on the region) before depart- ing at the end of 2023.
Prior to his arrival in Springfield, Theros served MGM as vice president, legal counsel, and assistant secretary at MGM Grand Detroit, and then in those same roles for MGM’s Mid- west Group, which also included a casino in Ohio. In those various positions, he said he
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MARCH 18, 2024
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