The Atlanta Lawyer August/September 2016 | Page 14

IN Remembrance of Jeffrey Bramlett
By Edward B. Krugman

For those old enough to have
lived through significant events
– the assassinations of the Kennedys and Dr. King, the first walk
on the moon, the tragedies of
9/11 – we remember where we
were when we first heard what
had occurred or watched it live
on television. I will forever remember where I was when I first
heard that my partner and dear
friend, Jeff Bramlett, was sick.
I was sitting in my office some
eight years ago when Jeff came
in, closed the door, and said he
had some news to tell me – some
good and some bad. I asked to
hear the bad news first, and
that’s when Jeff told me he had
been diagnosed with multiple
myeloma. And then, in typical
Bramlett fashion, he delivered the “good” news, that
at least he knew what he would die of.
Over the next several years, Jeff’s cancer was largely
an afterthought for most of us at our firm. He told
only his family and partners about the illness, and
it was a subject we mostly avoided except to ask Jeff
from time-to-time how he was doing. Jeff received
periodic treatments that he called his chemo cocktails, and that seemed to have little effect on him,
physically or mentally, until early 2015. And then,
last summer, Jeff reported that he would be having a
stem cell transplant.
Jeff had the transplant last year, and thankfully survived
it; many do not. All of us, including Jeff, believed he
had earned many more years. But Jeff was in the unlucky 15% for whom the transplant does not work, and
a second transplant was not an option. Nonetheless, Jeff

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remained eternally optimistic,
with the promise of new drugs
recently approved by the FDA.
The Jeff Bramlett I knew for
more than three decades was
an incredibly vibrant and handsome man, with amazing hair
and eyebrows. But the transplant, treatments and cancer
took a toll on him physically.
Many people would have chosen to remain at home, but Jeff
was not like most. He donned
his fedora to cover up the hair
loss (his eyebrows somehow
persevered), and out he went
when his health allowed it –
to the Lawyers Club of Atlanta
Holiday Party, the Eleventh
Circuit Judicial Conference in
Alabama, and the Annual Meeting of the State Bar in
Florida. Jeff did this because he loved people, and most
of all, he loved lawyers and conversation with them.
I knew that Jeff was an extraordinary lawyer, a brilliant
strategist and the consummate professional. He was
also a great partner, always putting the welfare and
interests of the firm above his own. He was a mentor
and teacher to many. When I encountered difficult
challenges in cases, Jeff was always there to provide
sage advice. I never understood how he could find
the time to do all that he did – representing wealthy
clients who could pay and indigent clients who could
not, while holding leadership positions with the Atlanta
Bar, the Georgia Bar, the ACLU, his church, and many
other organizations. But what I perhaps did not fully
appreciate was the impact that Jeff had on so many
others. I soon found that out.