Biglaw

Biglaw Associate Killed In Miami Building Collapse Remembered As 'Fearless'

A GoFundMe for her family has raised over $120,000 so far.

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(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Reed Smith associate Nicole Langesfeld, 26, and her husband, Luis Sadovnic were killed in the June 24 collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida. Langesfeld was a summer associate at the firm and started full time in 2019. She and Sadovnic were married earlier this year and only moved into the doomed residence two months before the tragic collapse.

Reed Smith counsel Ana Barton tells Law.com Langesfeld was a fearless attorney:

“She was fearless,” Barton said. “The way she spoke up with ideas when we were doing an internal brainstorming session on how to advance the case for a client and what arguments to make. She was the same talking to Noah [Goldberg] and I, as fellow associates, as she was talking to partners and speaking on calls with the client, which says volumes about the person she was.”

And insurance recovery associate Noah Goldberg remembered Langesfeld’s sense of humor:

“It’s hard to describe the person Nicky was because some of the words sound like generic superlatives or platitudes, but she was the very real embodiment of so many things that people aspire to be,” Goldberg said. “I’ve never laughed so much when writing a brief as I have when I’ve done it with Nicky.”

One of Langesfeld’s former professors, University of Miami School of Law’s Andrew Dawson said she stood out in the crowd:

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“They’re bar courses, they’re big classes, there are a lot of students in each. I’m not able to get to know that many students in those large classes, but I remember Nicole very clearly,” Dawson said. “She actually had fun acting as a lawyer. She was very memorable in that way.”

One of Langesfeld’s co-workers, legal assistant Regla Barrios started a GoFundMe to raise money for the couple’s family.

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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