Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s Singapore casino resort and a lawyers’ group agreed to settle lawsuits over unpaid bills and compensation for a May conference, said two people with direct knowledge of the decision.

A notice to discontinue the lawsuits probably will be filed by tomorrow, the people said, declining to be identified because the agreement isn’t public.

 

Marina Bay Sands, a unit of Sands, sought $641,246 from IPBA 2010 Pte over unpaid bills for the first conference hosted at the US$5.5 billion ($7.51 billion) resort. IPBA, the organizer of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association conference, had sought compensation, saying Sands misrepresented its resort as a world-class venue at a time some rooms were unfinished and some facilities were closed.

 

Lisa Williamson, a spokeswoman for Marina Bay Sands, declined to comment, as did a spokesman for IPBA’s organizing committee.

 

The dispute marred the opening of the resort, which Sands has said will contribute US$1 billion in annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization next year. Two casinos opened in Singapore this year after a four-decade ban was lifted, boosting tourism and the city state’s economy.

 

IPBA will receive a discount on its bill, according to the people. The lawyers’ group had paid $200,000 of the $841,245.75 bill, according to court papers.

 

The decision to end the dispute comes seven weeks after Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson said he was ready to settle with the lawyers “any day they want” and he would “rather make love than war.”

 

Delegates at the conference also complained of power failures and lost luggage. The Bar association’s annual general meeting discussed an “unprecedented” motion empowering it to sue Sands, according to IPBA’s lawsuit.

 

“Some of the problems were normal opening difficulties that any property has, particularly one of that size,” Michael Leven, Las Vegas Sands’ chief operating officer, said in a June 9 Bloomberg Television interview in New York. “But we did have a convention of lawyers to start out with, so we knew we were going to have some kind of conversation.”

 

Sands used the attendance of Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at the event to speed up its casino permit, according to IPBA’s June 8 suit. The law conference, which featured former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, was held May 2-5, only days after Las Vegas Sands opened parts of the resort, which was originally scheduled to open at the end of 2009.

 

The cases are Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd. v IPBA 2010 Singapore Pte Ltd. S464/2010 and S348/2010 in the Singapore High Court.