Firm Mourns the Passing of Founding Partner Richard J. Drake
It is with profound sadness that we share the news of the recent passing of our Founding Partner Richard J. Drake on January 4, 2025. He was 91 years old.
Dick was an active attorney with the firm until his retirement in January 2015 after more than fifty years in practice. Together with his partners, he went on to build two of the most respected law firms in the area - including the present Drake Loeb PLLC.
The foundation of his law practice was built on his role as bank counsel for many area banks involved in commercial and residential lending, including one of the largest commercial banks in the Hudson Valley. Dick's areas of concentration grew to include business, transactional, and not-for-profit organization matters for many successful businesses including the former public company and retailer A.C. Moore. Beginning in 1965 and throughout the majority of his legal career, he also served as Attorney for the Town of Newburgh and at various other times as attorney for its Planning Board and Zoning Commission.
While at Drake Loeb PLLC, he mentored many associates and current partners, teaching them the "ins and outs" of the lending business, title law, corporate transactions, and, most importantly, how to be an effective advocate for their clients.
Who we are and what we’ve become as a law firm was made possible in part, a significant part, because of his support and guidance to us over many, many years. His commitment to the firm, and to each of us tasked with its safekeeping, continued right up until the day of his passing. He often called himself just a country lawyer, but his skills as an attorney were deeply respected by all who knew him, and he remained a formidable figure in the Orange County legal profession even after his retirement.
He was respected throughout his career not only as an attorney, but as an active member of his community. Dick was a valued leader for St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital during his years as a Board Member and Past Chairman of both its Board of Trustees and the St. Luke’s Cornwall Health System Board. His work on the hospital boards, as well as his service as a member of the Board of Directors of the Kaplan Family Foundations and the Geraldine & Warner Refuge Foundation are just a few examples of the years of commitment and guidance he gave to ensure the success of our community.
As an attorney, Dick served the legal profession as a long-standing member and Chairman of the Committee on Character and Fitness, Second Department, Ninth Judicial District, which body interviews and reviews the credentials of aspiring attorneys and makes a recommendation on whether or not the individuals should be admitted to the New York State Bar. He also served as a member of the Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commission, Ninth Judicial District, which body reviews applications for election to the New York State judicial offices. He became a licensed attorney in New York in 1959, and was admitted in various courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976. He received the John F. McBride Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Orange County Bar Association in 2011.
A rarity in today's legal profession, Dick joined forces with fellow Founding Partner Jim Loeb in 1978 and that partnership spanned decades, flourishing through many changes and creating a friendship between them that continued uninterrupted for almost fifty years.
Dick, you will be sorely missed by all of us, but never forgotten; we will continue to carry forward your lessons to each of us individually and to the firm as a whole and try to maintain the standards you set so high for us many years ago.
