Biglaw Associate Tragically Killed In Freak Accident
What could have caused this terrible accident?
Today we have tragic news out of the Boston office of Latham & Watkins. On Tuesday evening, one of the firm’s talented young associates was killed after a speeding car careened through the front of a restaurant where he was dining.
At about 6:15 p.m., a car crashed into Sweet Tomatoes, a pizzeria in Newton, Massachusetts, running down and killing Gregory Morin, 32, a midlevel associate at the firm. Also killed was Eleanor Miele, 57, the office manager of Tamkin & Hochberg, a local law firm. Seven other people were injured in the accident. Sources say the impact of the crash was so severe that the building’s structure was significantly damaged.
Bradford Casler, the 55-year-old driver of the vehicle, sustained minor injuries. He’s not yet been charged with a crime, but his license was revoked following the accident.
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At the time of her death, Miele was at the restaurant picking up pizza to bring to an area church where she was working with volunteers for an Easter charity project.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Morin joined Latham in 2013. He’d previously been an associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Williams & Connolly, where he’d worked for almost three years. Morin graduated from George Washington Law School in 2010.
Here’s a statement from Hans Brigham, managing partner of Latham’s Boston office:
Gregory Morin
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We are deeply saddened by this tragedy. Greg was a wonderful colleague and friend to many in Boston and throughout our firm. He was a highly skilled young lawyer and a compassionate person with incredible spirit and singular wit. Our thoughts and prayers are with Greg’s family and friends, as well as the other victims.
We here at Above the Law would like to extend our condolences and sympathies to all those injured, and especially to Gregory Morin’s and Eleanor Miele’s family, friends, and colleagues. The city of Newton will hold a vigil for all of the victims tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Cpt. Ryan Park on Washington Street in West Newton.
UPDATE (03/04/16): Several of Gregory Morin’s friends and colleagues from the Latham & Watkins Boston office have prepared some thoughts about him:
It is always a surreal and unimaginable thing, to lose a friend or a colleague – but to witness the loss of life of a young man, in the midst of building a career, a family, and a life is an indescribable tragedy. We here at Latham’s Boston office are reeling, as so many are, at the death of our friend and colleague Greg Morin. Our hearts are especially broken for the loss his family has sustained.
Greg was a proud and doting father to 15-month-old Kate, devoted to new parenthood and to his wife, Erica, also an attorney here in Boston. He and Erica moved from Washington, D.C. to Boston in 2013 to be closer to family and to enjoy the New England outdoors while hiking and kayaking. Greg and Erica just recently bought a home in Newton and Greg always had a project going to fix it up. Greg had the uncanny ability that can be rare in fast-paced professional environments of having true perspective. Our work and our clients are extremely important, but family was his foundation. He was a devoted father and husband, and it was always clear that above all that was who he was working for and the reason he sought to be excellent in his work. For many of us who worked with Greg, that quality stood out and encouraged those of us striving to approach our work in a similar way.
Greg was the type of colleague and mentor you hope to have in the notoriously high pressure, high stakes world of Big Law litigation – he was calm, smart, level-headed, astute, hardworking, responsible, collegial, a March Madness savant… and absolutely hilarious. We will miss so much about our daily interactions with Greg here at Latham, but most of all we will sorely miss his dry wit. Our hallway conversations and litigation group lunches were always punctuated by one of Greg’s signature deadpan wisecracks that left the rest of us doubled over in laughter. That is how we will always remember him.
The entire Latham & Watkins Boston office, and especially our Litigation & Trial team, extend their sincerest condolences to Greg’s family and friends during this unthinkably difficult time. We are with you, and we are behind you. We know Greg would have done the same for us.
Ally Turner, Amy Feinman, David Tolley, Elyse Greenwald, Laura Carey, P.R. Goldstone, Steve Pacini
UPDATE (03/05/16): Gregory Morin’s wife, Erica, reached out to us with a statement:
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Greg was such a great man, a wonderful husband, and an amazing father. We were so fortunate to have found each other, traveled the world, challenged each other, laughed, and started a family together. All in just ten too short years. He loved his little girl so very much and it was such a joy seeing him grow into the role of dada. Greg was so loved by so many people and it has been a comfort to hear from so many of them. He was our rock, the center of our family, and our hearts are forever broken.
Latham & Watkins lawyer identified as victim in fatal Newton crash [Boston Business Journal]
Authorities identify the victims in Sweet Tomatoes crash [Boston.com]
Victims In Fatal Newton Restaurant Crash Identified [CBS Boston]
