It’s finally time to wrap-up this New Year’s series. As I mentioned in Part 1, I thought it would be fun use the Wayback Machine to take a look back at how professional websites—law firm sites, in particular—have evolved over the last 25 years. It’s my way of saying Thank You to those I’ve worked with and those who have supported the blog over the last 8 years.

In Part 1, I focused on the big national firms. In Part 2, I focused on organizations I’ve been a part of since 1994 and firms in Middle Georgia.

In Part 3, I’ll mainly focus on Atlanta firms with bankruptcy departments, large and small.

The larger firms get a longer look in this series only because their sites were generally established earlier (meaning they likely had funnier content) and indexed more frequently than the smaller firms (meaning more content is available). The larger firms were also the starting point for so many of our Georgia friends before they went out on their own.

I must note that there were so many firms that I wanted to cover and I looked into pretty deeply but ultimately couldn’t cover due to indexing issues. If you see your logo in the picture but didn’t see any coverage, then just know I tried really hard.

(As a reminder, many of the website photos below are clickable but warning that the Archive seems to be down intermittently this morning.)

Continue Reading Happy New Year! – Looking Back on 25 Years of Professional Websites – Part 3

Welcome back to my multi-part New Year’s post.

As I mentioned in Part 1, as Stone & Baxter was wrapping up its 25th year and Plan Proponent posted its 99th post in 2021, I thought it would be fun use the Wayback Machine to take a look back at how professional websites—law firm sites, in particular—have evolved over the last 25 years. It’s my way of saying Thank You to those I’ve worked with and those who have supported the blog for the last 7 years.

In Part 1, I focused on the big national firms. Naturally, King & Spalding’s 2001 Recruiting Bloopers Reel was the star attraction. That post had relatively broad appeal and was even noticed by the leading legal tech journalist in the U.S.

In Part 2, I’ll leave the big firms, the Atlanta firms, and the cringe behind until Part 3. Instead, I’ll focus on organizations I’ve been a part of since 1994 and firms in Middle Georgia.

Continue Reading Happy New Year! – Looking Back on 25 Years of Professional Websites – Part 2

This long overdue New Year’s post, which I actually started in December 2021, will have nothing to do with serious work stuff. Instead, as Stone & Baxter was wrapping up its 25th year and Plan Proponent posted its 99th post, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at how professional websites—law firm sites, in particular—have evolved over the last 25 years.

First, it’s a long, multi-part Thank You to those I’ve worked with and those who have supported the blog for the last 7 years. Second, it’s a nostalgia piece that only the internet can provide. Third, it’s a New Year’s reminder to stay humble. After all, even mega law firms, now with $1 billion in annual revenues each, once thought it was good marketing to display gavels, click counters, guestbooks, recruiting blooper reels, and even a Yahtzee game on their fancy-for-the-times 90s websites. Thanks to the Wayback Machine, I’ve got the receipts!

I hope you enjoy this series even slightly as much as I did. Happy New Year!

Continue Reading Happy New Year! – Looking Back on 25 Years of Professional Websites – Part 1

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)

Mercifully, I’m going to experiment with how short I can make case summaries. Earlier this month, Michigan Bankruptcy Judge Applebaum denied confirmation in Lapeer Aviation’s Subchapter V bankruptcy cases. Lapeer operates the Dupont-Lapeer Airport (D95), which is about 25 miles east of Flint. Before addressing 4 objections, which were raised in a two-day evidentiary hearing , the Court reminds us that, even without objections, it has an independent duty to inquire into the plan confirmation requirements.

Ultimately, the Court denied confirmation for liquidation test and unfair discrimination reasons.

Continue Reading Michigan Bankruptcy Court Examines Subchapter V Confirmation Requirements

“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

[Today’s post is from Braden Copeland, a Mercer 3L. He joined us as a Summer Associate in 2021. We’re delighted that he’ll come on as an Associate after he graduates this Spring. I asked him to look for a confirmation-related Subchapter V opinion and write something up for the blog. I’m thrilled to have the help. P.S. A too-early-in-the-year plan confirmation trial delayed our New Year’s post, but it’s still coming! – Dave]

I’m not prejudging it but I think the Trustee’s objection is an uphill battle simply because it sounds almost like he is arguing the 1111(b) election itself is not fair and equitable, which of course there is a reason it exists. But perhaps it is the application of the election and the facts and circumstances of this case that is not fair and equitable and whether or not we can go down that path.

— Judge Thomas Saladino, United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nebraska, as heard in a status teleconference on September 22, 2021.

Well, the court went down that path.

But, first, let me back up…

Continue Reading Confirmation DENIED: Subchapter V Trustee Challenges 1111(b) Election

As Stone & Baxter wraps-up its 25th year in business, we wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. We hope this finds you well, safe, and with as much of your family as these crazy times will permit.

The Burys are headed to see Jessica’s parents in D.C. this week, but stay tuned for what should be a “fun”—and certainly nostalgic—New Year’s post. I do some of my best work from my inlaws’ Potomac basement. And don’t worry, it won’t have anything to do with bankruptcy. In fact, if you subscribe to the blog, follow me on LinkedIn, or, for that matter, worked with me any time after 1999, in law or otherwise, then there might be something in it for you.

*Yes, colleagues, that’s an iPhone photo of Jessica’s 2021 S&B holiday card.

P.S. For whatever this holiday cheer is worth, as of 4:15 p.m. Eastern, no one has filed a 12/25 bankruptcy in the United States. That’s unusual if you follow this sort of stuff like we do.

If you’d like to stay on top of important bankruptcy issues in 2022, then you can subscribe to Plan Proponent via email here.

 

Late yesterday, Judge Colleen McMahon (SDNY), in a 142-page (!) opinion, reversed the plan confirmation order in the Purdue Pharma Chapter 11 appeal on the basis that its non-consensual third-party releases are improper under the Bankruptcy Code.

As quick background, Purdue Pharma manufactures OxyContin. It sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2019 in response to over 3,000 opioid-related lawsuits. Behind Purdue Pharma is the Sackler family who founded the company and whose members are widely-accused of enabling the opioid crisis in the U.S. They’re not debtors in bankruptcy.

The Chapter 11 plan was to serve as the vehicle for a $4.5 billion settlement of the opioid litigation that the debtor proposed the Sacklers would fund in exchange for sweeping non-debtor releases, a controversial plan feature that we’ve addressed before. As of today, it couldn’t be more controversial. The bankruptcy court confirmed the proposal. Judge McMahon reversed. Beyond the headline level, it gets very complicated.

First, if you had trouble locating the opinion—the SDNY appeared to be down earlier today—then click here.

(Thanks to Braden Copeland for tracking it down during the outage!)

Second, for the very best coverage, click here to follow Prof. Melissa Jacoby (UNC Law). She has followed this case tirelessly as it has evolved in the courts and, more than any other, has endeavored in real time to condense and summarize the issues.

I asked Prof. Jacoby for her quick take this morning and, so generously for our humble little blog, she had this to say:

This opinion should be a wake-up call to bankruptcy lawyers. This opinion illustrates why you can’t rely on the ends (the money will be used for opioid abatement) to justify the means (using bankruptcy to permanently shield a billionaire family and a thousand other related parties over the objection of claimants who have direct causes of action against those other parties). Bankruptcy is not a source of unlimited authority, especially when it comes to the system’s most extraordinary powers.

I’m a debtor’s lawyer and “supposed to” view the Code as that unlimited source of authority when it benefits a client. However, I and my colleagues have become more and more sober these days about non-debtor releases, channeling injunctions, and the like, even if we’re often duty-bound to explore and test their limits.

With that, I’m “excited” to read the opinion this weekend and see if Plan Proponent is up to the task of providing anything more than a “breaking blurb.” Maybe a 14.2-part series? Just kidding.

If you’d like to stay on top of this and other important bankruptcy issues, then you can subscribe to Plan Proponent via email here.

Coming off our month long Judge Drake Series, I sat down this morning to comb through Westlaw for new Subchapter V opinions. I found a couple, but they can wait. What really got my attention was an opinion from Bankruptcy Judge Scott Clarkson (C.D. Cal). The case is In re Summit Financial, Inc., 2021 WL 5173331 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. Nov. 5, 2021). You can find the opinion here.

We attribute Judge Clarkson as having issued the very first substantive Subchapter V opinion. Technically, his November opinion relates to a Sub V debtor, but the issue is far more universal, and kind of scary, too: Is it ever plagiarism or, at least, unethical to copy/paste from other attorneys’ pleadings? Possibly.

Continue Reading Is it Ever Plagiarism to Use Other Attorneys’ Work Product?