Jackson Walker, US Trustee Drop Objections to Experts in Bankruptcy Fee Case

An evidentiary hearing in federal bankruptcy court that was set to determine whether expert reports should be struck took what attorneys for Jackson Walker claimed was an unexpected turn after an attorney for the U.S. Trustee began “putting on their case on the merits.”

The hearing Thursday in Houston came in the case where the U.S. Trustee is trying to claw back millions in fees awarded to the law firm Jackson Walker in 33 cases where former bankruptcy judge David Jones served as a judge or mediator. Those efforts began after a previously secret romantic relationship between Jones and then-Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner Elizabeth Freeman became public. Jones resigned his bench in October 2023, and Freeman left the Dallas-based firm in December 2022.