Sicily Yacht Tragedy Takes Life Of Christopher Morvillo
Christopher J. Morvillo, a renowned white-collar litigator, is feared dead after the superyacht sinking on a celebratory cruise following his gaining the acquittal of British software mogul Mike Lynch.
Morvillo, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan and partner at Clifford Chance, had become one of the country’s top white-collar defense attorneys. The yacht tragedy, which saw the rapid sinking of the luxury boat following an unusual ‘waterspout storm’. A colleague, lawyer Ayla Ronald, survived the tragedy along with fourteen other people including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares.
Six people remain missing, including Morvillo, his wife Neda, Lynch and his daughter Hannah, and Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife.
In June, Morvillo secured across-the-board acquittals for Lynch after a lengthy, high profile federal fraud trial in San Francisco.
Lynch, the founder and former head of the software company Autonomy, had been accused of accounting improprieties related to Hewlett-Packard’s $11 billion acquisition of Autonomy in 2011.
The hard-fought trial lasted nearly three months, but the jury deliberated for only two days before returning not-guilty verdicts on all charges against Lynch and his co-defendant, Stephen Chamberlain.
Following this remarkable legal win, Lynch invited Morvillo and other members of the defense team, including Morvillo’s wife, Neda, on a celebratory trip aboard his 56-meter sailing yacht, Bayesian.
Morvillo owns residences in New York City and South Kent, celebrated Lynch’s June 6 acquittal on LinkedIn in one of his final social media posts before the sinking, eerily writing that his family would live “happily ever after.”
“A huge thank you to my patient and incredible wife, Neda Morvillo, and my two strong, brilliant and beautiful daughters, Sabrino Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo,” he wrote after thanking the legal team that helped in Lynch’s legal success.
The loss of Morvillo has sent shockwaves through the legal community, where he was widely respected for his legal acumen and courtroom sjukks.
David Oscar Markus, a fellow defense lawyer, described Morvillo as “a shining light in our white-collar criminal defense world” and expressed his devastation at the news of the tragedy.
Morvillo came from a prominent legal family, with his late father, Robert Morvillo, being a renowned criminal defense attorney who founded the respected boutique firm Morvillo Abramowitz.
Like his father, Christopher Morvillo had established himself as a formidable litigator, often taking on high-profile, complex cases and achieving remarkable results for his clients.
Clifford Chance wrote that they were “in shock” and “deeply saddened by the tragic incident,” and that their thoughts are with the Morvillo couple and their families.
“Our utmost priority is providing support to the family as well as our colleague Ayla Ronald, who together with her partner, thankfully survived the incident,” the firm’s communication head Kane Dowsett wrote in a report to Fox News. “Our thoughts extend to the other passengers and crew and all those affected. We have no further comment at this time. We, and the families, ask that their request for privacy is honored during this period.”
