Gunshot Killed Sidley Austin Partner
Gabriel MacConaill
Gabriel MacConaill, a 42-year-old partner in Sidley Austin’s Los Angeles office, died on Oct. 14 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to a report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
MacConaill's death, at 12:40 p.m. Sunday in the parking garage of Sidley's office at 555 West Fifth Street in downtown Los Angeles, was determined to be a suicide.
A restructuring expert, MacConaill joined Sidley in 2009 from Potter Anderson & Corroon, a Delaware-based firm known for its bankruptcy expertise. MacConaill made partner at Sidley on Jan. 1, 2014.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Gabe MacConaill, our valued colleague and partner,” said a Sidley spokeswoman in a statement. “He will be fondly remembered by colleagues as well as clients as an outstanding lawyer, partner and friend. Our hearts especially go out to his wife to whom we offer our sincerest condolences.”
A 2005 graduate of the Dickinson Law School at Pennsylvania State University, MacConaill was one of several Sidley lawyers to recently land a lead role in the Chapter 11 case for Mattress Firm Inc., the country's largest mattress retailer.
MacConaill had an active bankruptcy practice, having made 53 appearances in Delaware bankruptcy court since starting his legal career at Potter Anderson in 2005. He represented the likes of American Airlines Inc., Aricent Technologies Holdings Ltd. and GE Capital Retail Bank, the latter in a bankruptcy court proceeding in Los Angeles.
He also served as chair of Sidley’s summer associate programs committee.
The firm said in a memoriam posted on MacConaill's biography page that he was “known for providing clients with practical solutions in complicated restructurings and developed a reputation for understanding and putting his clients’ business interests first.”
Sidley said MacConaill is survived by his wife, attorney Joanna Litt.
Law firms are increasingly looking for ways to address depression and other mental health issues in the legal profession, where such problems are particularly prevalent.
Bruce Wickersham, a former partner at DLA Piper in Boston, died from an apparent suicide in late August. That same month, the widow of a former Reed Smith partner in Chicago who killed himself in 2010 saw a $3 million jury verdict she won against a pharmaceutical giant overturned on appeal.
