Charles Gianelloni was not thinking about law school when he was selling vacuum cleaners in Las Vegas.
At the time, he was earning his MBA at UNLV and trying to figure out what came next. The job gave him a front-row seat to the challenges small business owners face every day, from negotiating leases to building relationships with customers.
One lesson came from the store where he worked, which had signed a commercial lease without negotiating parking access. For a retail business, that was a costly oversight. Customers needed somewhere to park, and even a prime location could not overcome limited parking.
“That experience made me think about the kinds of mistakes that can damage a business,” Gianelloni says. “I realized I wanted to help owners avoid those problems.”
Now he is managing partner of Snell & Wilmer's Las Vegas office, where he leads 40 attorneys across litigation, corporate law, and real estate law. His path to law did not begin in a courtroom. It began with business — watching how companies operate, how decisions get made, and how much can go wrong when people miss the details.
“I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do with my life,” he says.
Learning the Language of Business
Gianelloni initially chose UNLV because it allowed him to stay close to his parents while pursuing his MBA. But after visiting Lee Business School, he realized the program offered more than convenience. He found a welcoming, approachable environment where he could build confidence rather than feel like he had to pretend he already had all the answers.
He received scholarship support through Lee Business School, an investment that left a lasting impression.
“People I had never met invested in my future,” Gianelloni says. “That created a sense of responsibility in me. If people were willing to take a chance on me, I wanted to make the most of it.”
The MBA program also challenged how Gianelloni approached work. He was accustomed to working independently, but the program’s emphasis on group projects required him to collaborate with classmates who brought different perspectives and problem-solving styles. He learned to listen more carefully, adapt when needed, and recognize that effective leaders do not need to have every answer themselves.
In a course taught by then-UNLV professor Steven Phelan, students worked in teams through a business simulation where the goal was to maximize profits. Gianelloni remembers how quickly one decision could ripple through the entire operation.
“You’d spend all week tweaking one thing only to have something else fail,” he says. “Teamwork was essential to manage all the processes.”
Management and marketing courses gave him insight into people, organizations, and strategy. The student-run investment club connected him with classmates who became close friends for more than a decade.
“I learned how businesses actually operate,” he says. “More importantly, I learned where I fit.”
Gianelloni earned his MBA in fall 2007 and continued selling vacuums for some time. But the degree changed how he viewed the work around him. He began to see the connections between customer relationships, operational decisions, and the legal details that can determine a company's success.
In 2009, he returned to UNLV, this time to the William S. Boyd School of Law, earning his Juris Doctor in spring 2012.
For Gianelloni, the two degrees complemented one another. The MBA gave him the language of business. The law degree gave him the tools to help business owners avoid the kinds of challenges he had witnessed firsthand, including that lease issue.
Where Business Meets Law
At Snell & Wilmer, those two parts of his education come together every day. Clients may come to the firm with legal questions, but those questions rarely stay only legal. They involve judgment, timing, risk, contracts, relationships, and the realities of running a company.
His business background helps him understand that legal issues are often operational, financial, or relationship challenges.
“What I find most meaningful is the combination of strategy and people,” he says. “I get to help clients navigate complex legal and business issues, but I also get to mentor and develop the next generation of attorneys.”
As managing partner, Gianelloni leads the Las Vegas office, supports attorneys across practice areas, and helps shape the firm's presence in the local legal and business community. The same lessons he started learning before law school still matter: pay attention to the details, understand the business context, listen carefully, and build trust with the people involved.
Giving Back
His connection to UNLV did not end with graduation. He still thinks about the professors who pushed him, the classmates who became lifelong friends, and the donors whose scholarship support helped make his MBA possible.
That is part of why Gianelloni now serves as president of the Lee Business School Alumni Board. He helps connect alumni and students with the Las Vegas business community, especially students who may still be figuring out their path.
He knows what it means to take the job in front of you, keep moving, and let one decision open the next door. Professors, classmates, and scholarship donors helped him see a path before he could fully see it himself.
“If my story says anything,” he says, “it is that where you start does not define where you finish.”
