2 victims shared special bond, taste for adventure

By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

Mentor, leader, loyal friend. Generous, passionate and daring.

With those words, friends and colleagues remembered attorney Michael Doran, 51, who was killed alongside the youngest associate in his firm, Matt Schnirel, when the plane Doran was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff Tuesday outside Cleveland. The crash is under investigation, and the cause is not yet known.

Those who knew Doran remember him for his passion for flying and his love of being an attorney. The University at Buffalo graduate and founder of the law firm Doran & Murphy LLP leaves a legal legacy behind that those around him say will live on forever.

Doran & Murphy associate Colleen Murphy said Doran's impact as a teacher and a leader was evidenced by the fact that each of the other four attorneys at the firm clerked for him prior to becoming lawyers and all stayed on at the firm, eschewing opportunities to practice at larger firms in favor of the family atmosphere their founder created and fostered.

"Mike was a great mentor to Matt, to all of us," she said, "He had the ability to teach you about the law in a way that I've never seen from anyone else. When I first came here, I was looking to move on into business law, but I had the chance to see Mike in a trial, and I knew then what I wanted to do, and I've never looked back."

Murphy recalled, through tears, running down the hall Tuesday to hand Doran a brief she had completed for the case he and Schnirel were working on in Cleveland. Five hours later, Doran called to announce that the two had settled the case and would be returning to Buffalo.

"He called one last time from the plane to tell us he was taking off and they would be home soon," Murphy recalled. Shortly after takeoff, Doran's Cirrus SR22 aircraft went down, just three miles from the airport.

"When I heard, I hoped maybe there was another plane headed to Buffalo," Murphy said, "but the rational side of me knew what had happened, that Mike and Matt were on that plane."

Calling Doran "an adventurous person who loved to try extreme things," Murphy said he loved to fly and appreciated the freedom it allowed him to do his work, yet return home to be with family and friends.

"He actually got his first flying lesson from someone here at the office, and he was hooked. He was just unstoppable," she said. "I know flying was what made him happy, so I know he died happy, doing the two things he loved the most."

Murphy called Schnirel, who had been with the firm as a law clerk since 2006 but had just been admitted to the bar in February, "extremely eager and so excited" to be a lawyer.

"He was ready to take the bull by the horns the day he was admitted," she said. "He would stay at the office long after everyone was gone. He just loved practicing."

Murphy said the relationship between Doran and Schnirel was something special.

"They were a perfect fit for each other, both personally and professionally," she said. "Matt loved Mike, they had quite a mentor-mentee relationship."

Murphy recalled a time when, as a student at UB Law, Schnirel would practice for trial competitions at the office after-hours.

"He was so excited and so into learning about new things, he just loved to talk shop all day and to learn," she said.

The young attorney had just celebrated his 26th birthday. His friends' pages on the online networking site Facebook.com are full of messages of condolence, many lamenting a life taken too soon and the loss of a friend who will be deeply missed.

"He's the type of person you could only hope your son grows up to be," Schnirel's UB Law classmate Kimberlee DeFezio, who interned with him at Doran & Murphy, said in an interview. "He was an absolutely wonderful person. Genuine, generous, I can't say enough good things about him."

Doran was active in many community organizations, including serving on the board of trustees for the Western New York chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Executive Director Nancy Hails recalls Doran as a kind and generous person who was eager to help out where he could. Hails chuckled as she recalled how Doran came to be a part of her organization.

"He was actually a participant in our bachelor auction," she said. "From there, he got to know our mission and what we were about, and he wanted to be part of it." Calling Doran's death "a tragic loss," Hails remembered a man who she says cared deeply for his community.

"He was a lot of fun, and everybody liked him," she said.

Among the many friends mourning Doran's loss is Alan Carrel, vice dean of administration at the University at Buffalo Law School. Carrel, who first came to know Doran when the latter was a law student at the UB Law in the 1980s, remained friends with him through the years, and fondly remembers the two enjoying attending hockey games together.

"I remember, he still had friends from every period of his life that would come up to him and want to talk," he said. "He was an incredibly generous person to all of his friends. You couldn't have a better friend."

Carrel spoke of his friend's "incredible zest for life" and said it was part of what made him so special.

"He loved to try new things, and he was the kind of a friend you loved to have, because you could always count on him."  

Putting friendship into words

Friends and colleagues on Michael Doran:

• Instead of a firm, he created a family.... He was reflective, he was concerned about other people's feelings and just a genuine person." - Alan Carrel

• Mike was an adventurous person. He was always up for any challenge and he loved flying, he loved his planes." - Colleen Murphy

On Matt Schnirel:

• Matt was born to be a trial lawyer. He knew more about being a trial lawyer coming out of law school than anyone you could imagine." - Michael Torcello

• Matt was a very relaxed guy, very laid back. He never took anything too seriously." - Kimberlee DeFezio