Obituaries
‘Brilliant’ and ‘gifted’ King & Spalding lawyer dies in mountain climbing accident in New Zealand
A 44-year-old King & Spalding lawyer died Nov. 25 after falling with his guide while climbing Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain. (Photo from Shutterstock)
A 44-year-old King & Spalding lawyer died Nov. 25 after falling with his guide while climbing Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain.
Kellam Conover, of counsel at the law firm, had worked in its Washington, D.C., office before his death.
“Kellam made his mark here as a gifted lawyer, respected colleague and wonderful friend with a bright future,” said Mark Jensen, King & Spalding’s Washington, D.C., managing partner, in statements to Law.com and Law360. “He will be sorely missed.”
According to the King & Spalding website, Conover had written numerous briefs in cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal appeals courts. He had “especially deep experience” defending securities actions, although he represented clients in several types of matters, including in cases involving constitutional law, bankruptcy, patents and administrative procedure.
Kellam Conover, of counsel at the law firm, had worked in its Washington, D.C., office before his death. (Photo courtesy of King & Spaulding)
The mountain guide who died, Thomas Vialletet, had been roped to Conover. They were near the summit when they fell, according to information from the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council cited by an article from Climbing.com.
Conover’s mother, Pam Conover, told Stuff that her son was “as close as you come to a modern Renaissance man.” He studied classics—literary works of ancient Greece and Rome—at Princeton University before graduating from Stanford Law School. He could read and write Greek and Latin and could speak Italian, French and German. He was also a gifted pianist and violinist.
Conover formerly worked at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. In a LinkedIn post, Gibson Dunn partner Harrison Korn paid tribute to Conover.
“Nothing feels big enough to capture who Kellam Conover was—as a lawyer, as a colleague and as a human being,” Korn wrote. “Kellam was brilliant in the way that only a few people are. His mind moved effortlessly from complex legal analysis to obscure threads of Greek history, and somehow he made every conversation feel like an invitation to learn and to laugh. But as extraordinary as his intellect was, it wasn’t the first thing you noticed about Kellam. It was his kindness.”
“My office was next to Kellam’s for years, and I still think about how much I learned just standing in his doorway, talking about anything and everything—his thoughts on the latest Supreme Court case, a historical anecdote he’d somehow connect perfectly to the issue at hand, or even our mutual commiseration about trying to date in D.C. He had this rare gift of offering generosity without ever making it seem like he was going out of his way. He made people feel seen, supported and at ease. Losing him is heartbreaking,” Korn wrote.
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