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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.

Ex-Highland Capital Management CEO Can’t Duck Contempt Finding

James Dondero had appealed to the Fifth Circuit in September 2022, arguing the bankruptcy judge wrongly found him in contempt of a temporary restraining order and awarded compensatory damages to Highland. Judge Leslie H. Southwick wrote that the “minor factual issues” Dondero raised on appeal weren’t enough to undo the sanction. “Undergirding our analysis of the sanctions award here is a recognition of the goal of such awards everywhere: ‘to do rough justice,’” he wrote.

CDT Roundup: 14 Deals, 16 Firms, 224 Lawyers, $8.2B

The Corporate Deal Tracker has noticed an uptick in capital transactions over the past few weeks. One firm that seems to be getting its share of CapM deals is Baker Botts. In June alone, BB reported more than $4 billion in 10 capital markets transactions. Claire Poole takes a look at the lawyers behind the action at BB, along with her usual summary of Texas-related deals and the lawyers behind them.

Texas AG Signals Plans to Aggressively Enforce Texas’ New Data Privacy & Security Act

The Texas Data Privacy & Security Act became effective July 1. Along with 17 other states, Texas has now enacted data privacy protections that will require many businesses to comply with new regulations about the collection, use, processing and treatment of personal data. Businesses that operate in Texas should be aware of, and prepared to comply with, the TDPSA immediately. Companies should coordinate with their technology and legal teams to review policies and procedures and ensure their privacy policy, terms and conditions, and other documentation comply with the Texas law and other applicable privacy and cybersecurity regulations to ensure compliance and avoid enforcement actions by the Texas attorney general.

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.

SCOTUS Vacates Fifth Circuit Decision in Social Media Case

In a decision Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices ruled that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit failed to “conduct a proper analysis of the First Amendment challenges” to a Texas law that regulates content posted on large internet platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube. The Supreme Court vacated and remanded NetChoice v. Paxton — a case in which the Fifth Circuit upheld a Texas law prohibiting websites and social media outlets from editing or deleting posts deemed to be false or harmful.

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