W. Homer Drake Jr.
How Judge Drake rules, drawn from 26 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Drake no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Drake decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Reopening may protect creditors' access to a recovery even when it weakens a litigation opponent's estoppel argument.
“The role of this Court is to oversee the bankruptcy case and the rights, obligations, and conduct of the parties before it.”
Forbearance from enforcing an existing right does not by itself supply new value for a preference defense.
“forbearance, whether consensual/nonconsensual, direct/indirect, unilateral/bilateral, or intentional/unintentional, may not constitute new value”
Procedural preferences
A sanctions request based on an uninvestigated defense requires the defense to have been obvious without discovery.
“Rule 9011 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure places no prefiling duty upon a plaintiff to conduct an inquiry into possible affirmative defenses, except in those unusual or extreme circumstances where such a defense is obvious and needs no discovery to establish.”
A creditor with actual knowledge of a bankruptcy case may bear a duty to investigate deadlines and protect its claim.
“section 726(a)(2) placed a burden of inquiry on Movant, who was not a known creditor.”
Cautions
Proposed professionals must disclose the complete network of relationships in a multilayered representation.
“The court must be presented the whole picture especially where there is a multilayering of relationships as in the present case.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court finds that the Motion to Dismiss, filed by the United States Trustee, must be, and hereby is, Granted. The Debtor’s case is hereby Dismissed.”
The court invited evidence about when the assignee learned of the case and reserved a final ruling on claim priority.
After trial, the court found that the debtor had promised to pay legal fees without intending to do so.
“The Creditor’s objection to the Debtor’s exemption of the funds must be overruled.”
“the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Trustee’s Complaint is DENIED.”
“The Trustee’s First Motion to Amend Complaint is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
The court found abuse but gave the debtors time to convert before any dismissal order would enter.
“the Trustee’s Motion for Summary Judgment is hereby GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”
“DMAC’s Motion for Summary Judgment is hereby GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”
“IT IS ORDERED that the Debtor’s Motion to Reopen her bankruptcy case is GRANTED and the Debtor’s case is REOPENED”
“Newnan Bank’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment is hereby GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”
“it is ORDERED that the Objecting Parties’ Motion for Reconsideration, or In the Alternative, To Amend, is hereby DENIED.”
“it hereby is ORDERED that the foregoing Motion is DENIED.”
“The Motions to Dismiss filed by defendants Watts and Richey lack any legal support and, therefore, are DENIED.”
“the Motion to Dismiss Counterclaim filed by counter-defendants Walton, Gebhardt, and Wilson hereby is GRANTED.”
A historical record
Judge Drake no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.