{"id":126814,"date":"2025-07-15T14:42:52","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T22:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/07\/15\/first-year-biglaw-associate-killed-in-hit-and-run-crash\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T14:42:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T22:42:52","slug":"first-year-biglaw-associate-killed-in-hit-and-run-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/07\/15\/first-year-biglaw-associate-killed-in-hit-and-run-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"First-Year Biglaw Associate Killed In Hit-And-Run Crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have more sad news to report from California, where a young associate from a top Biglaw firm was recently struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle.<\/p>\n

Blake Ackerman, 27, a 2023 graduate of Loyola Law, was a first-year associate in the Century City office of Morgan Lewis. The Recorder<\/a> has additional details on his untimely death:<\/p>\n

\n

Ackerman died after being struck by a fleeing driver on July 10 while bicycling along a street in West Hollywood, according to the law firm.<\/p>\n

Local news reports say that Ackerman died after being struck by a BMW sedan at around 9:45 p.m. \u2026<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department continues to look for the driver who struck and killed Ackerman.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Morgan Lewis released a statement<\/a> following Ackerman\u2019s death, which reads, in relevant part: \u201cBlake was an exceptional person with a contagious smile and personality\u2014a bright rising star, full of life and positivity. \u2026 He was also known for giving back, and shortly before his death, Blake asked one of our partners to work with him on a pro bono matter to help someone in need; we will see that through in his memory. Our entire Morgan Lewis community is holding Blake and his loved ones in our thoughts and hearts during this incredibly difficult time. We will miss and remember him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jami McKeon, the firm\u2019s chair, called Ackerman \u201ca true delight\u2014full of life, positivity, and a deep eagerness to learn and grow,\u201d and went on to say that he was a \u201cbright rising star\u201d who \u201cembodied our firm values in all that he did and was always looking for ways to support others.\u201d<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe<\/a> created to assist Ackerman\u2019s family in the wake of his passing has already reached more than $160,000 in just days.<\/p>\n

We here at Above the Law extend our condolences to Blake Ackerman\u2019s family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time.<\/p>\n

Morgan Lewis Litigation Associate, \u2018A Bright Rising Star,\u2019 Killed in Hit-and-Run While Bicycling<\/a> [The Recorder]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post First-Year Biglaw Associate Killed In Hit-And-Run Crash<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Image via Getty)\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We have more sad news to report from California, where a young associate from a top Biglaw firm was recently struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle.<\/p>\n

Blake Ackerman, 27, a 2023 graduate of Loyola Law, was a first-year associate in the Century City office of Morgan Lewis. The Recorder<\/a> has additional details on his untimely death:<\/p>\n

\n

Ackerman died after being struck by a fleeing driver on July 10 while bicycling along a street in West Hollywood, according to the law firm.<\/p>\n

Local news reports say that Ackerman died after being struck by a BMW sedan at around 9:45 p.m. \u2026<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department continues to look for the driver who struck and killed Ackerman.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Morgan Lewis released a statement<\/a> following Ackerman\u2019s death, which reads, in relevant part: \u201cBlake was an exceptional person with a contagious smile and personality\u2014a bright rising star, full of life and positivity. \u2026 He was also known for giving back, and shortly before his death, Blake asked one of our partners to work with him on a pro bono matter to help someone in need; we will see that through in his memory. Our entire Morgan Lewis community is holding Blake and his loved ones in our thoughts and hearts during this incredibly difficult time. We will miss and remember him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jami McKeon, the firm\u2019s chair, called Ackerman \u201ca true delight\u2014full of life, positivity, and a deep eagerness to learn and grow,\u201d and went on to say that he was a \u201cbright rising star\u201d who \u201cembodied our firm values in all that he did and was always looking for ways to support others.\u201d<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe<\/a> created to assist Ackerman\u2019s family in the wake of his passing has already reached more than $160,000 in just days.<\/p>\n

We here at Above the Law extend our condolences to Blake Ackerman\u2019s family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time.<\/p>\n

Morgan Lewis Litigation Associate, \u2018A Bright Rising Star,\u2019 Killed in Hit-and-Run While Bicycling<\/a> [The Recorder]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have more sad news to report from California, where a young associate from a top Biglaw firm was recently struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle. Blake Ackerman, 27, a 2023 graduate of Loyola Law, was a first-year associate in the Century City office of Morgan Lewis. The Recorder has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":126758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Staci-Zaretsky-eAn3i4.jpeg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}