Sidley Still Thinks They Handled Partner's Suicide Correctly. His Widow Disagrees.

Biglaw partner's death has become part of a larger conversation about workplace stress.

Gabriel MacConaill

The death by suicide of Sidley Austin partner Gabe MacConaill continues to rock the world of Biglaw. Not only did he die in a dramatic fashion — his body was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the firm’s parking garage — but after his death, his widow, Joanna Litt, wrote a provocative op-ed titled “Big Law Killed My Husband.” That one-two punch put a lot of attention on the stresses of Biglaw and the mental health and services available in the industry.

Now MacConaill’s death has become part of a larger conversation. Financial Times has written an article about mental health issues in the workplace, and MacConaill is featured in the story. The details of the stress MacConaill was under before his death are familiar to those who know his story — and  anyone who’s spent time in Biglaw will recognize the outlines — and are rehashed for this new audience. He was working on the massive Mattress Firm bankruptcy case and other partners in his department had recently left, pushing him into a leadership role and leaving MacConaill without the support of partners. In prepping to file the Mattress Firm bankruptcy in Delaware, MacConaill worked himself to exhaustion, going to the ER with cardiac symptoms but when there were early indications his health issues were caused by dehydration, he left the hospital without being seen by a doctor so he could return to work. As FT reports, that was a critical warning sign:

That evening, Litt called one of MacConaill’s close colleagues. “I said, ‘My husband’s in crisis. What do I do?’” she remembers. “And she told me, ‘I don’t know.’ I said, ‘Who do I call?’ She said, ‘I don’t know.’ ” Litt arranged a mobile IV to come to their home, give MacConaill fluids and prepare him for the final stretch of the case. He then flew to Delaware to file. When he returned to LA, he called in sick from work, stayed at home and stopped answering his work emails.

On Sunday morning, MacConaill told Litt he was going into the office. A few hours later she received a call from [Dan Clivner, managing partner of Sidley Austin’s Los Angeles office]. They had found MacConaill’s body in the Sidley Austin parking lot, next to his car.

Dan Clivner, managing partner of Sidley Austin’s Los Angeles office, told FT that it was MacConaill’s responsibility to come forward and ask for help when he was overwhelmed:

“When you call in with something like cancer or stress, in a discreet and professional way the firm will respond,” he says. “On the first day of every orientation that I’ve done for decades, I say, ‘You have to raise your hand.’ In a place like this, you have to be able to say, ‘I haven’t done deals, I’d like to do deals,’ or ‘I’d be interested in travel,’ or ‘I’m overworked.’ You have to trust somebody.”

And, despite the criticism Litt has leveled at the firm, Clivner stands by the firm’s response to MacConail’s death:

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“Simply put, I’m exceptionally proud of the way the firm handled the announcement and communication of his death without stigma, without embarrassment, without hiding it,” says Clivner. “They don’t teach you this in law school and for myself personally, and for the firm, we did it right.”

But in the FT article, Litt doubles down on holding the firm to account for the events that led up to her husband’s death, and is angry at the firm’s lack of a robust response since MacConaill died:

In the months since, she feels Sidley Austin’s response has been minimal. “The two managing partners of the bankruptcy division did not call me, email me, send me a letter,” she says. “I still haven’t heard from either partner. I also didn’t hear from the slightly senior partner who Gabe was working Mattress Firm with. None of them.”

Clivner says he is proud of the firm’s wellness program, though he admits it hasn’t change since MacConaill’s death. But FT also spoke with an anonymous source at the firm who agreed that whatever wellness program the firm has in place, folks at Sidley aren’t comfortable availing themselves of it:

“There are resources available, of course,” says a former colleague. “But there is not a culture or feeling of safety right now in that set of offices. You can have resources in place, but unless you have the right culture, people aren’t going to feel safe using them or approaching someone to ask for help.”

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Litt titled her op-ed “Big Law Killed My Husband,” not the firm killed my husband, and that rings true because whatever the particulars of what led to MacConaill’s death, the attitudes are industry wide. Too often the demands of the profession mask real mental health issues, and the overachievers drawn to the law don’t feel able to avail themselves of these necessary services. The stigma is something we see throughout the legal industry, and is what needs to be dismantled to prevent more of these tragedies.


headshotKathryn 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).