Kiwi lawyer dies after being found lying on Sydney road
Hit and run
A young lawyer from New Zealand has been identified as the victim of a suspected fatal hit-and-run in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Mitch East, 28, who was educated at Harvard Law School and worked at Sydney firm Arnold Bloch Leibler, was found bleeding heavily on Fletcher Street in Tamarama at about 4am on Sunday. Despite the best efforts of police and paramedics he died at the scene.
According to social media profiles, East was originally from New Zealand and studied at the University of Otago and received first class honours, before going on to complete a Master of Laws at Harvard
Law School.
Otago law professor Andrew Geddis had the pleasure of working with East during his studies and said he “epitomised the best of Otago Law School”.
After his studies in Dunedin he applied to study overseas where Geddis said he received the top scholarship to Cambridge, New York and Harvard – “no one student has ever been offered all three, he was very bright, achieved well and got along with everyone.
“Reading his resume people would think ‘here is a brain box’ and ‘he lived in the library’ but he wasn't like that. He had an amazing smile, a cheeky kind of smile. He got on really well with everyone.”
Police said on Sunday that East’s family had been informed, and were “very upset and distraught”.
He worked in New Zealand in various legal positions, including as an adviser and senior adviser for the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch Terrorist Attack in 2019 and 2020.
East provided part-time research support for the review of the Criminal Jury Trials Bench Book until 2021 and became a solicitor for Meredith Connell.
“Meredith Connell is extremely saddened to hear of Mitch’s passing. Mitch was a fine young lawyer. Our thoughts are with Mitch’s family at this terrible time,” Crown Solicitor Alysha McClintock said.
His employer, Arnold Bloch Leibler, where he has worked since July 2022, has been contacted for comment.
Police are still searching for answers, combing through CCTV in the hopes of finding the driver of a white SUV that was seen nearby. A witness told Nine News they heard a bang, then a thud, followed by a car alarm about the time East was found unconscious by passers-by. Police believe East was living locally and was on foot at the time of the suspected hit-and-run.
Several ambulance crews and a helicopter were deployed to the incident.