Biglaw, Crime

Kirkland & Ellis Partner Shot In Armed Robbery

He was medically evacuated from Turks and Caicos and is now in stable condition.

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For many lawyers and judges, Caribbean islands are a top vacation destination. But on occasion, these tropical paradises can be marred by crime. In 2012, for example, Justice Stephen Breyer was robbed at knife point at his vacation home on Nevis.

Nobody was injured during the Breyer robbery. That was not the case with the crime recently committed against Mike Jones, a D.C.-based litigation partner at Kirkland & Elis, as reported over the weekend by ABC News:

An American tourist vacationing with his family in Turks and Caicos had to be medically evacuated to Florida after he was shot during an armed burglary Friday night.

The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force said a 57-year-old U.S. citizen was shot by a masked gunman while in his vacation villa in the Leeward residential area of of Providenciales, an island in the Turks and Caicos archipelago, around 10:12 p.m. local time Friday. The man suffered from a single gunshot wound to his upper body and was immediately transported to a local hospital, where police said he was listed in stable condition.

Whenever a terrible crime like this happens, people stress the need to be careful. What’s especially frightening about this crime is that the Jones family was careful. They took security measures, which the robbers overcame (emphasis added):

Commissioner of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force, James Smith, told ABC News that investigators believe at least two suspects forcibly entered the private villa intending to rob the property. The villa was secured with an alarm system and a security guard, whom police later found had been “lightly bound” at the scene with his own shoe laces, Smith said.

The suspects fled with a stolen laptop, and they remain at large.

As for Mike Jones, a prominent and successful litigator focused on mass torts and product liability litigation, he is fortunately on the road to recovery. Here’s what K&E told Law.com:

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Mike Jones, a partner in our Washington, D.C., office, was shot during a burglary while on vacation with his family. Mike was treated successfully and is in stable condition and is expected to fully recover. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mike and his family, and we look forward to welcoming him back after his recovery.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jones and his family as well. Let’s hope he’s back on his feet and back in the courtroom, doing well and doing good, very soon.

UPDATE (8/2/2017, 8:47 a.m.): Additional comment from someone who knows Mike Jones: “Great story! That dude is tough as nails. I’m shocked the bullet didn’t bounce off and run away.”

American tourist vacationing in Turks and Caicos shot in armed robbery, medically evacuated [ABC News]
Kirkland Partner Survives Gunshot Wound During Turks and Caicos Getaway [Law.com]

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DBL square headshotDavid Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@abovethelaw.com.

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