Mark I. Levy
Updated -- 4pm: Mark Levy, Washington, D.C.-based counsel and chair of Kilpatrick Stockton's Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy practice, died in the firm's D.C. office Thursday morning, the BLT has confirmed with lawyers both inside and outside the firm.
"We in the legal community are losing someone who is hard to replace," says solo practitioner Dennis Gingold, who has worked with Levy and calls him one of the district's finest appellate lawyers. "This is a tough time."
According to Metropolitan Police Department officers near the firm's offices at 607 14th Street N.W., a male individual committed suicide this morning at the 600 block of 14th Street N.W.
A man who works in the building, but not at the firm, told the BLT that by 7:45 Thursday morning, two ambulances and a fire truck were on the scene.
After the firm initially limited its comments to confirming an attorney death in the D.C. office, Kilpatrick Stockton co-managing partner Bill Dorris issued the following e-mailed statement through a firm spokesman:
With sadness we confirm that Kilpatrick Stockton attorney Mark Levy died this morning. Mark Levy was well known and highly respected for his successful appearances before the Supreme Court of the United States. We offer our deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. Out of respect for his family, we cannot offer additional comments at this time.
Above the Law posted an internal e-mail sent to firm employees Thursday morning, stating that the Metropolitan Police Department was responding to "an unconscious male with a gunshot wound to the head on the 11th floor."
The Fulton County Daily Report, a Legal Times sibling publication, reported Wednesday that Kilpatrick had laid off 24 associates and counsel across U.S. offices.
More details to come as the story develops.
This article first appeared on The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.
