More Lawyers Enter SDTX Bankruptcy Scandal Fray

The bankruptcy courts in the Southern District of Texas are still a hotbed for intense litigation, attracting some of the best lawyers in the nation — just not for the reasons the bankruptcy judges ever wanted or even contemplated. Prominent Texas lawyers David Beck, Rusty Hardin, Anne Johnson, Tom Kirkendall, Mike Lynn, John Sparacino, Jeff Tillotson and scores of other highly paid lawyers have been hired by plaintiffs, defendants and third parties involved in the legal fallout from the forced resignation late last year of former SDTX Chief Bankruptcy Judge David Jones. The Texas Lawbook has the details.

July 1, 2024 Mark Curriden

Houston Restructuring Pro James Grogan Joins GT

Grogan, who moves to Greenberg Traurig from Paul Hastings, has guided several cryptocurrency firms through Chapter 11 in recent years.

June 21, 2024 Brooks Igo

SCOTUS Sides with Insurer in Asbestos-related Chapter 11 Case

On Thursday, Justice Sonya Sotomayor delivered the 8-0 opinion of the court that held Truck Insurance Exchange should have been allowed to voice its concerns about the terms of a proposed $50 million settlement of thousands of asbestos-related lawsuits because the insurer is a “party in interest” in the dispute. Gibson Dunn's Allyson Ho argued the case and spoke to The Lawbook about its implications.

June 7, 2024 Michelle Casady

Ex-SDTX Bankruptcy Judge, Liz Freeman and Jackson Walker Seek Dismissals in Two Separate Fraud Cases

Within hours of each other late Wednesday, three key players in the romantic relationship scandal that has infected the Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court filed motions in two separate cases seeking to have the cases against them dismissed — and all three for different reasons.

May 23, 2024 Mark Curriden

Bloomberg Law: Alfredo Perez to be Next SDTX Bankruptcy Judge

If approved, Perez would join his former Weil Gotshal law partner, Judge Christopher Lopez, as one of the bankruptcy judges handling big cases in Houston.

April 4, 2024 Mark Curriden

Jackson Walker Offers 2021 Memo as Proof Partner Lied About Relationship with Bankruptcy Judge

The former McDermott International shareholder who exposed the secret relationship between a former Jackson Walker partner and the Houston bankruptcy judge who handled the McDermott restructuring is a “professional litigant” with a history of “perjured testimony and falsification of evidence” who has no legitimate legal claims against Jackson Walker. Those arguments were part of a 46-page document filed Friday by Houston trial lawyer Rusty Hardin, who represents Jackson Walker, seeking to dismiss the federal racketeering and fraud lawsuit filed against his client and others by McDermott investor Michael Van Deelen who seeks millions of dollars in damages, alleging the firm hid and profited from the romantic relationship between Elizabeth Freeman, a Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner between 2018 and 2022, and former Bankruptcy Judge David Jones.

March 24, 2024 Mark Curriden

Elizabeth Freeman: Secret Relationship with Bankruptcy Judge Jones Had No Impact on McDermott Restructuring Case

The decision to keep secret the relationship between then-U.S. Bankruptcy Chief Judge David Jones and Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner Elizabeth Freeman was made by Judge Jones in 2020 at the start of the multibillion-dollar corporate restructuring of McDermott International, a lawyer for Freeman stated in court documents filed late Monday in federal court in Houston. Prominent Houston corporate bankruptcy lawyer Tom Kirkendall, who represents Freeman in the ongoing litigation related to Freeman’s relationship with Judge Jones, wrote that neither Jackson Walker nor Kirkland & Ellis were aware that the couple were living together or were romantically involved and that the federal lawsuit against them should be dismissed.

March 19, 2024 Mark Curriden

Kirkland Hires David Beck, Seeks Dismissal from Judge Jones Bankruptcy Romance Lawsuit

Kirkland & Ellis lawyers had no knowledge that former Houston Bankruptcy Judge David Jones was having a secret romantic affair with a former partner at a Texas law firm that served as its co-counsel in dozens of corporate restructurings and that Kirkland cannot be held accountable for the ethical lapses of the judge in those cases, according to court documents filed Friday. Lawyers for Kirkland, which include David Beck, argue that the Chicago-founded law firm should be dismissed from a federal racketeering lawsuit that accuses Kirkland and its co-counsel at Dallas-based Jackson Walker of exploiting the relationship between Judge Jones and former Jackson Walker partner Elizabeth Freeman. Jackson Walker has hired Rusty Hardin and Judge Jones is being represented by McKool Smith.

March 18, 2024 Mark Curriden