Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
TGI Friday’s Inc. and 23 of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Northern District of Texas over the weekend. In its bankruptcy petition, TGI Friday’s claims $100 million to $500 million in debts and the same range for assets. The Dallas-based company owns 39 actual bar-and-grill restaurants across the U.S. None of the TGI Friday’s franchised operations are part of the Chapter 11.
During a roughly 80-minute hearing Tuesday, Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Eduardo V. Rodriguez set an April 21 trial date in the litigation that will determine whether the U.S. trustee can claw back millions in bankruptcy fees awarded to Jackson Walker in cases handled by former judge David Jones. The court has given the parties until Dec. 2 to file dispositive motions in the case.
The legal and financial advisors in the Vertex Energy bankruptcy and restructuring have filed their applications for official employment, and the numbers never cease to amaze. Kirkland, Bracewell, Alvarez & Marsal and Perella Weinberg Partners filed their fees to be approved by SDTX Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez.
The Johnson & Johnson talc powder bankruptcy filing in Houston is less than a month old, but new documents filed Sunday in the case show that it is going to be highly profitable for the lawyers and law firms involved. Over the past three days, lawyers for Jones Day, Porter Hedges, King & Spalding, Skadden Arps, Shook Hardy & Bacon and McCarter & English have filed their official applications to represent Red River Talc, the J&J subsidiary. Jones Day's Dallas office is the biggest financial beneficiary.
Houston Bankruptcy Judge David Jones’ voice was filled with emotion one year ago today in an interview with The Texas Lawbook. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know what is going to happen next. I just don’t know. I guess I have to resign.”
The Fifth Circuit had just published notice that it was investigating possible misconduct by Judge Jones over allegations that he had been involved in a multiyear secret romance with a former bankruptcy partner at 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. Jones officially resigned Oct. 15, 2023. The 365 days since have been pure chaos in the Houston bankruptcy courts, which is one of the three busiest courts in the nation for business bankruptcies.
“The whole thing is a mess, a complete fiasco,” said former UNT Dallas law dean Royal Furgeson. In a first-ever detailed timeline of the events of the past year and several years prior, The Lawbook documents a scandal about romance, secrecy, tens of millions of dollars in legal fees and ethical lapses that have engulfed the bankruptcy courts in Houston.
2011: David Jones leaves Houston law firm Porter Hedges after 19 years as a corporate bankruptcy lawyer to become a bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of Texas. Jones later hires
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez said Thursday that he is keeping a Johnson & Johnson-related bankruptcy in Texas and not transferring the case back to New Jersey where J&J is headquartered.
During a hearing Tuesday, Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Eduardo V. Rodriguez gave Jackson Walker and the U.S. trustee’s office until Oct. 15 to provide the court with further briefing on whether the depositions of the current and former U.S. trustee for Region 7 and a current trial attorney in that office should take place. He promised to rule quickly on the matter after the briefing is filed and said that for each day after Oct. 16, if he doesn’t file an order, he will be extending discovery deadlines by one day. Discovery is slated to close Nov. 1.
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