Law Student Dies After Christmas Eve Fall

A law student from Washington, D.C. died Monday, four days after falling two stories at the Union League Club of Chicago while visiting family in the area.

Eric Fatla was pronounced dead at 1:02 p.m. Monday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

A Tuesday autopsy ruled the fall accidental, and the cause of death pertained to the multiple injuries due to the height and impact of the fall.

Fatla was an alum of Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington and American University in Washington D.C., according to his Facebook page. He was scheduled to complete grad school at George Washington University in D.C. in 2014.

Legal scholar and professor at George Washington Jonathan Turley acknowledged Fatla’s many accomplishments in a post on his website:

"He had gone to China on a research project, gone to Honduras as an election monitor and worked in Congress as a staffer. He was currently with a lobbying and law firm while attending class in the evenings… He also showed us how to live life the fullest — creating our own path."

Fatla took his father, Ed, to the Union League Club, at 65 W. Jackson Blvd., according to Turley’s post. Before leaving the club, Ed Fatla went to the restroom. When he exited he found his son had fallen and was at the bottom of the stairs with grave injuries.

The Fatla family was not immediately available for comment.

Fatla's death was the second fatal fall at a prominent Chicago venue in as many months.  A south suburban school teacher fell to her death at the Palmer House Hilton during a Halloween Party.

Copyright SunTimes / NBC Chicago

Leave Comments