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Judge W. Homer Drake, Jr. (N.D. Ga.), one of the longest serving U.S. bankruptcy judges in history (over 53 years) and who retired on January 31, 2021, died on Friday at his home in Newnan, Georgia. He was 90. I learned about Judge Drake’s passing from fellow LexBlog blogger and Georgia bankruptcy attorney Scott Riddle who posted Judge Drake’s obituary.

It was just this time last year that I wrapped-up a seven-part tribute to Judge Drake, which included a detailed biographical introduction, followed by six posts that covered Judge Drake’s Top 10 most cited bankruptcy plan confirmation opinions (among over 555 indexed opinions).

I, like so many, will miss Judge Drake. In tribute, here is the series all in one place.

As an update, here is the “Celebration of Life” video for the December 14, 2022 service:

Continue Reading Judge W. Homer Drake, Jr. (1932-2022)

“Stand next to Jerry at any bar or statewide CLE event, and you’ll meet everyone.” That’s what my new colleagues told me when I joined Stone & Baxter. They were right. Ward Stone (my mentor) and Jerry Kaplan (Ward’s mentor) picked me up at my house on March 18, 2010—literally my first day at the firm—to attend SBLI in Atlanta. And before the weekend was over, I had met more judges and lawyers in three days than I had met in my prior three years of practice combined.

Sadly, Jerome Lewis Kaplan died earlier this year on January 26, 2022. He was 86.

Clearly, I took my time with this. I wanted to get it right, and I hope it is right. Here goes.Continue Reading A Tribute to Jerome L. “Jerry” Kaplan