Secret Courthouse Romance, Ethics Investigations, Tens of Millions in Legal Fees: The SDTX Bankruptcy Scandal One Year Later

Usually confident to the point of coming across self-righteous, Houston Bankruptcy Judge David Jones’ voice quivered as he stated repeatedly, “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know what is going to happen next. I just don’t know.”

The chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit had just published notice that it was conducting an investigation into possible misconduct by Judge Jones over allegations that he had been involved in a multiyear secret romance with a former bankruptcy partner, Elizabeth Freeman, at Dallas-based Jackson Walker. The firm had been paid more than $20 million — fees often approved by Judge Jones — for its role in dozens of high-profile bankruptcies in which Jones served as judge or mediator.