On Nov. 4, with Mr. Adelson already in talks to buy The Review-Journal, the Nevada Supreme Court rejected a request from Sands China to have Judge Gonzalez removed from overseeing the lawsuit. The company said that rulings and comments made by Judge Gonzalez in court reflected a bias against Mr. Adelson and Sands.

Judge Gonzalez has twice sanctioned Mr. Adelson’s team, finding that it had failed to disclose information and ignored one of her orders. Once, while Mr. Adelson was giving testimony, she admonished him for disagreeing with her when she instructed that he answer a question, saying, “You don’t get to argue with me.”

The case Judge Gonzalez is overseeing started in 2010 when the former chief executive of Sands’ operation in Macau, Steven C. Jacobs, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit, claiming he was fired for refusing to carry out orders from Mr. Adelson that he said he believed were illegal, including payments to local officials that might violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Mr. Adelson and Las Vegas Sands have insisted that they did nothing wrong and that Mr. Jacobs was fired for cause and is seeking money he does not deserve.

If the allegations raised in the lawsuit prove true, they could have significant consequences for Mr. Adelson and Sands because Nevada law bars casino owners from, among other things, associating with members of organized crime. Mr. Adelson and his company have rejected the claims, but the lawsuit prompted the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department to open investigations into Las Vegas Sands. In a recent S.E.C. filing, Sands said it was cooperating with federal investigations but could not predict their outcomes or potential impact. Mr. Adelson has spoken of his interest in buying The Review-Journal, which has a circulation of just under 200,000 and is an influential voice among civic leaders, for several years, according to those with knowledge of his relationship with the paper. Journalists here worry that there is no shortage of issues, including the lawsuit, that they will feel pressured to cover differently.

Among other things, Mr. Adelson is a fierce opponent of loosening marijuana regulation, which will be on the Nevada ballot in 2016, and of online gambling, which remains an active issue in the state. He is also involved in other contentious lawsuits that have been the subject of critical media coverage.

The Review-Journal has a libertarian bent, and its editorial page agrees with Mr. Adelson on some issues. But it has also been unstinting in its news coverage of him, including articles on the lawsuit being overseen by Judge Gonzalez.