An associate in Dechert's New York office died at a New York City residence last week, police reports and the firm confirmed.

Cameron Schladenhauffen, 31, died on 8 February, according to an obituary published in the Northwest Florida Daily News.

According to the New York City Police Department, police responded to a 911 call of an unconscious person inside an apartment on East 17th Street at 6:15 pm on 8 February. Police discovered a 31-year-old male, unconscious on his bed, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said no weapon or visible injuries were found.

"There is no criminality suspected," the police department said in an emailed statement. The medical examiner said a determination on the cause of death is still pending.

Dechert did not answer questions about the circumstances of Schladenhauffen's death. A firm spokesperson said: "We are profoundly saddened about Cameron's passing, which is a loss to all who knew him at the firm. Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time."

While his bio has been taken down from Dechert's website, a previous version of it notes that Schladenhauffen was an associate in the firm's commercial real estate finance practice. According to his LinkedIn profile, he joined the firm in December 2017 from Dentons, where he had practised since graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2015.

According to his biography, Schladenhauffen focused his practice on real estate finance, representing investment banks and institutional lenders in the origination, syndication, purchase and sale of loans. His experiences included drafting and negotiating loan agreements, term sheets and other ancillary loan documents.

An obituary detailing Schladenhauffen's life detailed his love of comedy and laughter and noted he was described by many as "the funniest person they ever met".

"His energy and humour always made him the centre of attention, and he never failed to make even the toughest of crowds laugh," the obituary read.

According to the obituary, Schladenhauffen was elected as head writer for Libel, his law school's annual comedy sketch show, for which he wrote and acted during all three years. And he didn't give up on comedy once becoming a lawyer. According to the obituary, he recently submitted an application to the NBC network for its Late Night with Seth Meyers show writers programme. The obituary noted that, after moving to New York to become a lawyer, the Alaska native was "living the dream".

The family has asked that donations in Schladenhauffen's name be made to The Comedy Cures Foundation, which provides therapeutic entertainment to people living with illness, depression, trauma or disabilities, according to its website.