Conn’s Taps Sidley to Lead Bankruptcy
The Texas discount furniture and appliance retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday in the Southern District of Texas citing more than $1 billion in debts.
SDTX Swears in New Bankruptcy Judge
U.S. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Eduardo Rodriguez officially administered the oath Tuesday to former Weil, Gotshal & Manges partner Alfredo Perez to become the newest bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of Texas. In an order signed July 16 by Chief Judge Rodriguez, Judge Perez will immediately join the Southern District’s complex case panel, which handles larger corporate Chapter 11 bankruptcies. Judge Perez, who will have chambers in Galveston, replaces former Houston Bankruptcy Judge David Jones.
Tehum Care Reaches $75M Settlement in Bankruptcy Dispute
Creditors and debtors in a Texas Two-Step bankruptcy case in Houston reached an agreement Wednesday that both sides believe will resolve more than 200 medical malpractice claims brought by inmates against prison healthcare provider Tehum Care Services, a subsidiary of Corizon Health. Tehum, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, agreed to pay $75 million to creditors, including the plaintiffs who accuse Corizon and Tehum of providing inadequate medical care that led to injuries and deaths at about 50 prisons in more than two-dozen states.
Deposition of Former Houston Bankruptcy Judge Put on Hold
The on-again, off-again deposition of former Houston Bankruptcy Judge David Jones is on hold again. Lawyers for Jackson Walker want to question Judge Jones about his secret relationship with one of its former partners while still handling corporate bankruptcy cases involving the lawyer and the law firm. But SDTX Chief Bankruptcy Judge Eduardo Rodriguez postponed the depo to determine which questions lawyers can force Judge Jones to answer.
SDTX Bankruptcy Judge Jones Seeks Dismissal of Romance-Related Lawsuit
A lawsuit against former Houston Bankruptcy Judge David Jones claiming that he conspired with lawyers at corporate law firms should be dismissed because “well-established judicial immunity doctrine … provides absolute immunity from suits for damages” for judges, lawyers for Judge Jones argued in court documents filed Thursday.
“This immunity applies even when the judge is accused of acting maliciously and corruptly, and the immunity extends to allegations of intentional misconduct," David Boies, lawyer for Judge Jones, wrote in the motion to dismiss.
Motions Fly, Ex-Judge to be Deposed in SDTX Bankruptcy Court Romance Scandal Litigation
The litigation regarding the secret relationship between former Houston Bankruptcy Judge David Jones and former Jackson Walker partner Elizabeth Freeman heated up Tuesday when the U.S. trustee seeking to claw back $13 million in legal fees from the Texas law firm asked Southern District of Texas Chief Bankruptcy Judge Eduardo Rodriguez to reject Jackson Walker’s “no harm, no foul” defense and Jackson Walker won the battle to depose Judge Jones as part of its defense against the trustee’s efforts.
At the same time, in separate but related litigation, lawyers for former Bouchard Transportation Company CEO Morton Bouchard asked U.S. District Chief Judge Alia Moses of the Western District of Texas to reject the defendants’ motions to dismiss the racketeering and fraud lawsuit he filed earlier this year against Judge Jones, Freeman, Jackson Walker, Kirkland & Ellis and Portage Point Partners.
Narrow SCOTUS Majority Prohibits Nonconsensual Third-Party Releases in Bankruptcy
While the ultimate outcome of the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case is likely to remain uncertain for quite some time, the failure to approve the plan may ultimately mean that no money at all will flow to these victims of the opioid crisis. However, the decision also stands to have much broader implications on the use of Chapter 11 to solve complicated problems, especially relating to mass tort cases. Given this potential to alter the landscape of Chapter 11 practice in future cases, the Court’s statutory analysis in the Purdue Pharma decision warrants close scrutiny.
Litigation Roundup: Primexx Energy Wants Suit Over $788M Sale Tossed
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, we offer an update from the most recent hearing in the lawsuit stemming from the $788 million sale of Primexx Energy, a threatened lawsuit over the death of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson yields a settlement, and six officers and directors of a Houston-based clinic see an end to a $285 million breach claim.