'We Are in Shock,' Prominent N.Y.C. Attorney's Firm Says After He and His Wife Go Missing in Yacht Sinking

Mar. 15, 2025

Christopher Morvillo.Photo:Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty

Christopher Morvillo

Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty

Prominent New York City attorneyChristopher Morvilloand his wife, Neda Morvillo, remain missing along with four others after the yacht they were onsank off the coast of Sicily this weekfollowing a serious storm.

While search efforts have continued, many of the investigators involved now presume the missing are dead after becoming trapped on theBayesianas it went into the water early on Monday, Aug. 19.

“Our thoughts are with our Partner, Christopher Morvillo, and his wife Neda who are among the missing, and with their families,” the spokesperson continues.

The Italian coast guard previously said that 22 people were on theBayesian, including 12 passengers and 10 crew.

Fifteen people were soon rescued after the yacht sank, according to the coast guard, and a body was also retrieved near the vessel andlater identified in news reportsas the chef, Ricardo Thomas.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Christopher Morvillo.Scott Eells/Bloomberg/Getty

Clifford Chance LLP partners, from left: Christopher J. Morvillo, Edward C. O’Callaghan, and David B. Raskin, stand for a photograph in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011. Clifford Chance LLP in October hired three partners for its New York office who all once worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan. The 2,466-attorney firm has the fifth-highest revenue in the world, according to 2011 rankings by the American Lawyer, a legal trade magazine.

Scott Eells/Bloomberg/Getty

A source close to the survivors tells PEOPLE that the yacht trip was a celebratory one after British businessman Mike Lynch was acquitted in June in a financial fraud trial in the U.S.

“That’s why he took his closest friends and colleagues on the trip,” the source says. Lynch remains missing along with his daughter, Hannah; his wife, Angela Bacares, was among those rescued from the yacht.

Christopher Morvillohad represented Lynchin the fraud case. Other firm employees were on theBayesianas well, according to the Clifford Chance spokesperson.

“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 spokesperson says in their statement. “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.”

Morvillo’sbiography on the Clifford Chance websitedetails extensive legal experience: A New York-based attorney, he previously worked as a federal prosecutor and “assisted in the criminal investigation arising out of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,” among other trials.

source: people.com

Other Posts

Powered by Hugo