Children remember Las Vegas lawyer Dennis Prince as loving dad: ‘He was the life of the party’
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The children of prominent attorney Dennis Prince, who was killed in a shooting Monday in his office, are remembering their father as both a lover of family and the law.
Dennis Prince, 57, was killed alongside his wife, Ashley Prince, 30, during a child custody hearing in Dennis Prince’s Summerlin law office. Joe Houston II, 77, another attorney, was at the hearing representing his son, Dylan Houston, in his custody dispute with Ashley Prince. During the deposition, Joe Houston shot and killed the Princes before killing himself.
Dennis Prince, a son, father and grandfather, leaves behind four children, including Scot Prince, 34; Taylor Prince, 31; Parker Prince, 9; and a newborn daughter whom Ashley Prince gave birth to in December. Taylor Prince and her husband, Malcolm, also have a one-year-old child, making Dennis Prince a recent grandfather.
“He was like the backbone of our family,” Taylor Prince said Friday. “Everyone looked to Dad for any piece of advice. He was the voice of reason. You called Dad and he would always say: ‘Taylor, Scot, Parker, everything will be OK.’”
Love of law & luxury
Dennis Prince grew up in Las Vegas and attended Bonanza High School, his family said. Dennis Prince graduated with honors from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a degree in finance. He later attended the California Western School of Law.
He played tennis growing up and later became obsessed with baseball due to Scot Prince and Parker Prince’s love of the sport. His parents Beverly McMaster, 76; and Robert McMaster, 81, are both living, the children said, adding they were “his rock.”
Both children remembered their father as a social butterfly who loved the finer things in life, including fashion, style, dining and motorcycles. They noted Dennis Prince took up most of the space in his and Ashley Prince’s bedroom closet. This week, a package arrived for Dennis Prince: It was a personalized crocodile-skin golf bag with his name embroidered on it, Taylor Prince said, smiling as she thought about her father.
“You would look at him and say, ‘That man is ready to get business done,’” she said.
“He was the life of the party,” Taylor Prince said about her father, adding he loved country music and golf. “He was just everyone’s biggest cheerleader no matter what. He just had so much love to give and all he wanted was a little love back. He was just so generous with his time and our hobbies and wishes.”
Scot Prince, who will graduate from UNLV’s law school in May, was working in his father’s office as a law clerk, he said. Scot Prince said he was excited to join his father’s firm and work together in the coming years.
“It was unique,” Scot Prince said about that working relationship. “When he’s at work, he’s in work mode. He only knows one speed and it’s full-bore always because he’s in that mindset constantly. He’s in bull mode: ‘I’m ready to crush whatever is coming my way.’”
Dennis Prince, who often woke up at 4:30 a.m. and did not sleep until midnight, did not use a computer and would often dictate something to an assistant, the children said. They added their father always wanted to become a lawyer.
“I think he just always felt that that was what he was going to do,” Scot Prince said. The Prince Law Group eventually grew to comprise a dozen employees.
“He literally did all of this himself and was so proud to be able to provide that for himself and his family,” Taylor Prince said. “He loved his team.”
The children hoped their father would be remembered in the legal community as a fighter, who secured wins for the greater good, including one Supreme Court of Nevada case that mandated an insurer could be liable for consequential damages.
“It was a good win because it holds liability insurers fully accountable for their refusal to provide their insureds with a legal defense,” Scot Prince said.
Always time for family
Taylor Prince, a world-champion equestrian, also remembers her father traveling with her across the country.
“My dad would wake me up and bring me donuts every morning and take me to ride my horse,” she said. “He would be my pep talk every time: ‘You’ve got this.’”
Scot Prince echoed that sentiment with his love of baseball.
“He didn’t have a lot of time: a lot of work and a lot of kids,” Scot Prince said about growing up. “If he wasn’t at work, it was something that one of the kids needed to be doing. He would somehow find the time to show up to my baseball game and go back to work. He was still always there.”
Over the past several days, Scot and Taylor Prince said strangers have come up to them, saying they knew their father, showing how much of an impact he not only had on the community but also revealing just how friendly he was.
“No matter the setting, a legal setting, a social setting, he could be anywhere, find someone to connect with, and end up being their best friend,” Taylor Prince said. “He was just infectious. he made you laugh, feel special, and he just cared. You couldn’t go anywhere in public with him without a familiar face.”
In addition to work and play, Dennis Prince volunteered with Substance Free Nevada and other organizations.
‘There was so much left’
The Prince children said Dennis Prince and Ashley Prince’s daughter was safe with a legal guardian.
“There was so much left,” Scot Prince said about his father. “He was always a successful guy, but it really felt like these next 10 years were going to be special.”
The law group worked in the Summerlin office for about five years, Scot Prince said. Both children said their father was very particular about the design and added he probably did not use much technology because of the aesthetics of the power cords.
“At work, he was extremely serious,” Scot Prince said. “He cared about his clients; it was tough love to make sure the clients received the best service.”
The Prince children asked for privacy and noted they were the best stewards to speak on their father’s behalf.
“We were extremely disappointed by some of the comments made by our fathers’ previous colleagues embellishing the nature of their relationship,” the Prince children said.
“I am more invigorated now than I’ve ever been,” Dennis Prince said in a video prepared by Quillin, a public relations firm, for Dennis Prince’s 30th year practicing law. “The fear of being average, the fear of losing motivates me every day to get here early and to stay late.
A public funeral service for Dennis Prince is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16, at the Palm Downtown Mortuary & Cemetery, the children said.
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