Article written by Christopher R. Thompson on February 25, 2021.

"On January 26, 2021, Judge Stephan P. Mickle, Sr. died at the age of 76, having lived an extraordinary and historically significant life, by any definition. I did not have the honor of meeting Judge Mickle, but Judge Karen Specie (Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida) had a unique friendship with Judge Mickle that began in 2012 by happenstance after her own appointment to the bench. Without an office or chambers to call her own in Gainesville, Judge Specie spent about three years working from the reception desks in the Gainesville District Court judges’ chambers, including Judge Mickle’s, in between hearings. Yes, you read that correctly. From 2012 to 2015, a United States Bankruptcy Judge spent multiple days a month sitting at and working from a reception area in the District Court Judges’ chambers in Gainesville."

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