Officials report that the fire, which broke out on Friday evening, has already claimed at least 33 lives, though the search for further deceased is expected to take several weeks. The death toll is expected to rise as the search continues, while family and friends face an excruciating wait as experts struggle to identify remains found in the venue.

However, believed to be among those who died in the tragic fire is lawyer Nick Walrath, an associate at San Francisco boutique firm Durie Tangri. A graduate of the New York University School of Law, Mr Walrath did stints as a summer associate at both Kirkland & Ellis and Cravath, Swaine & Moore, before joining Quinn Emanuel as an associate in 2014. He joined Durie Tangri just three months ago, after clerking for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. A statement from Durie Tangri, published by Above the Law, reads:

‘On the evening of December 2^nd, a fire in an Oakland music venue claimed many lives. We believe that Nick Walrath was among those who died. We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our friend and colleague. In the short time he had been at our firm, Nick had already shown himself to be a fine lawyer as well as a good and caring person. Our thoughts are with his family and his loved ones, who had been blessed to know Nick far better than we had the chance to, and whose loss is thus so much greater than our own.’