DISTRESSED DAILY: Judge Drain Waves Goodbye to Purdue Pharma

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain’s oversight of Purdue Pharma LP’s bankruptcy is coming to a close, ending a nearly three-year era marked by his shrewd barbs from the bench and detailed rulings.

Drain, famed for his willingness to lambaste lawyers and his ability to deliver lengthy rulings from the bench, presided over his final Purdue Pharma bankruptcy hearing on Wednesday. He’s scheduled to retire at the end of June after a 20-year stint in one of the country’s busiest bankruptcy courts.

“We collectively owe you a gargantuan debt of gratitude,” Marshall Huebner of Davis Polk & Wardwell, Purdue’s ...