Biglaw

Biglaw Associate Among Those Still Missing In Florida Building Collapse

The impact of the Florida tragedy on the legal community.

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(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

I’m sure many of our readers have been transfixed by the coverage of the tragic partial building collapse in Surfside, Florida. While search and rescue teams are still at work following the events of last Thursday, as of this writing, 18 people have been confirmed dead and 147 are still missing.

With so many impacted by the events, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the legal community counts several among the missing. As reported by Law360, three attorneys — Nicole Langesfeld, 26, Edgar Gonzalez, 45, and Linda March, 58 — still have not been located.

Langesfeld is an associate at Biglaw firm Reed Smith. She was a summer associate at the firm and started full time in 2019. According to colleagues, she got married in January — her husband, Luis Sadovnic, is missing as well — and they only moved into the Champlain Towers South two months ago.

Partner Hugh Lumpkin describes Langesfeld:

“She was a delight to work with,” Lumpkin said. “Highly intelligent, high energy and a great personality and a great person.”

During the pandemic, he and Langesfeld had worked closely together on several business interruption suits seeking coverage for COVID-19 closures.

And Doug Cameron, Reed Smith’s managing partner for the Americas, noted the firm continues to hold out hope for a positive outcome, saying:

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“Nicky is not only an amazing professional, she is a lovely, talented, compassionate, energetic person and a great friend to many of us,” Cameron said. “We are missing her presence every single day.”

Gonzalez is a partner in Hidalgo Law Firm, with a practice that focuses on real estate and construction litigation as well as commercial contract disputes. Partner Marlin Muller describes the tight bond at the firm:

“It wasn’t just business,” Muller said. “Can you imagine having a job where every day you’re hanging out with your best friends all day?”
….

“I know every firm says ‘we’re family,’ but we really were,” Muller said. “We had Thanksgivings together. I mean everything. I got a birthday present in the mail yesterday from Edgar.”

One of Gonzalez’s daughters was with him the night of the collapse, however, she and her mother were rescued.

March is a New York native and moved to Florida during the pandemic. And alum of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, she’s a former administrative law judge at the New York City Environmental Control Board. Her practice is built on representing building owners, tenants, contractors, architects, developers, and others before New York City agencies.

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Above the Law is hoping all those still missing are found soon.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. 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).

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