image via Getty
Former Holland & Hart partner Christopher Kulish, 62, died earlier this week after he reached the summit of Mount Everest. Kulish began his career as a patent attorney in 1997. And from 2002-2009, he was a partner in the Boulder office of Holland & Hart.
The firm offered a statement on Kulish’s passing:
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“Chris was a partner in our patent group in the Boulder office from 2002 to 2009,” Holland & Hart said in a statement. ”Chris will be remembered as a friend and an excellent patent attorney. We are deeply saddened to learn of his death, and extend our sympathies to his family and friends.”
After leaving Holland & Hart, Kulish opened his own firm. He remained a solo practitioner until his death.
As reported by Big Law Business, like so many attorneys, Kulish found his passion outside of the legal profession:
Mark Kulish described his brother Christopher as an attorney in his “day job.” He said his brother was an “inveterate climber of peaks in Colorado, the West and the world over” and a member of the “7 Summit Club,” as he had reached the summit of the highest peaks on every continent.
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In a statement, his brother noted Kulish accomplished his goal of summiting the peak before he passed:
“He saw his last sunrise from the highest peak on Earth,” his brother, Mark Kulish said in a Monday statement to The Denver Post. “We are heartbroken at this news.”
The increasingly dangerous conditions on the famous mountain are getting a lot of attention recently. A record 381 permits were issued to scale the mountain this year, with “traffic jams” noted on clear days.
This pic of the line to the Everest summit has gotten a lot of attention, but apparently many news orgs/photo agencies haven’t given credit to the photog @nimsdai. He also hasn’t been paid for it.
He risked his life to take this photo…he had to take his gloves off at 29k feet! pic.twitter.com/88lEii83Ev
— Yashar Ali (@yashar) May 27, 2019
Thus far, 11 people have died on Everest this year, including another American, Don Cash of Utah.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).