Herbert Sachs

Herbert "Herb" Sachs was a longtime Las Vegas criminal defense attorney who built a reputation as a tenacious and fearless advocate for his clients. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he began his career in public life as a lifelong Democrat, serving in the New York State Assembly during the 1960s, where he represented Nassau County's 5th District. He later brought his combative courtroom style to Nevada, where he was admitted to the State Bar in 1986 and practiced criminal defense for the remainder of his career.

In Las Vegas, Sachs took on a number of high-profile cases. Alongside local attorney Michael Cristalli, he assisted Houston defense attorney Dick DeGuerin in the defense of Sandy Murphy, working on the successful appeal that overturned her 2000 murder conviction in the death of former casino owner Ted Binion. He also represented Cheryl Botzet, whose second-degree murder conviction was set aside after a District Court judge found the state had presented inadmissible evidence, and he took on the defense of Galina Kilova in a Las Vegas hit-and-run case.

Colleagues and friends remembered Sachs as a streetwise, zealous advocate who fought tooth and nail for his clients, rich and poor alike, and who was known for standing up for lower-income people. He was described as a man who was not afraid of anyone and who fought hard for any cause he believed in. Herb Sachs died on February 25, 2015, at the age of 83. He is survived by three children: Rick Sachs, Cheryl Sachs Helfer, and Suzan Waks.