Luke Holland, who was with magic circle firm until 2013, killed outside nightclub
A former Freshfields rookie lawyer who quit the firm two years ago to launch a tech start-up has been shot dead in Berlin.
Luke Holland, 31, was shot in the stomach as he left the Del Rex nightclub in the Neukolln area of the German capital by a man reported to have been angered by noise from the venue.
Holland, who did his training contract at the magic firm’s London office between 2009-2011 before working for two years as an associate, moved to Berlin last year to launch a mobile phone music start-up after quitting the law in 2013.
The ex-private equity specialist was found at 6am on Sunday in a pool of blood by a passer-by and died on his way to hospital. News of the death only reached the media yesterday. It soon emerged that Holland was a former Freshfields lawyer.
According to a witness at the scene, the suspect was wearing a cowboy hat and long black leather jacket. He apparently ran into a nearby apartment block that was later raided by police who found an arsenal of weapons.
It is understood that Holland — who studied law at Sheffield University, graduating in 2006, before doing his Legal Practice Course at BPP after a year teaching English in Japan — lived in the same block as the suspect. A neighbour told newspapers that the suspect “regularly spends the morning banging on the windows [of the adjoining nightclub] if the party sounds were too loud”.
Tributes have been pouring in on Facebook to Holland, who has been described as “amazing”, “talented” and “a true inspiration”.