© 2017 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
(Feb. 21) – Austin bankruptcy lawyer Russell Munsch, one of the founding partners of Dallas-based Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, was one of five people who were killed Tuesday in a small plane crash in Australia. Munsch would have turned 62 tomorrow.
According to firm officials, Munsch and his wife were on a golf trip in Australia and New Zealand with three other couples. The husbands were flying to a new golf location when the accident occurred, while the wives had stayed behind to sightsee.
“The wives are still there, trying to deal with the sudden loss,” Munsch Hardt co-founding partner Rick Kopf told The Texas Lawbook. “Golf had become [Russ’s] second love; he was off doing trips and spending time with this wife. To have that cut short like this is really sad for both of them.”
Munsch had recently retired his bankruptcy practice but remained involved with the firm and was on various committees, Kopf said.
Firm colleagues and others who worked with Munsch remember him as a tenacious lawyer who was never afraid of a challenge – and succeeded because of it.
A testament to his success came in 1988 when Dallas billionaire Nelson Bunker Hunt hired Munsch at the age of 33 to handle his bankruptcy – at the time the largest in U.S. history.
“Russ Munsch was a pioneer and giant in the Texas bankruptcy practice,” said Bill Wallander, a bankruptcy partner at Vinson & Elkins. “As a young lawyer, I always admired his ability, and appreciated how he treated others with respect. It is a great loss to our community, and Russ will be missed by many.”
Other bankruptcy cases Munsch handled included Enron Corp., Coho Energy Corp. and Northwest Airlines.
“Russ was a trusted friend for 30 years. I first met him when he was an associate at the Winstead firm,” said Lou Strubeck, a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright. “He was a couple of years older, but I immediately knew that he was the kind of lawyer I wanted to be; hardworking, smart, upbeat, practical, unerringly fair, reasonable and didn’t take himself too seriously. When he walked into a room, it filled with positive energy.
“As good of a lawyer as Russ was, and I cannot think of anyone better, he was an even better person. No one was more universally respected and liked by his peers than Russ,” Strubeck added. “When he got the better of you in court, as he usually did, he was always humble, gracious and encouraging.
“The world has lost one of the truly good guys.”
Kopf credited Munsch as key in making Munsch Hardt the successful law firm that it is today.
“He was a guy who just challenged everybody,” Kopf said. “He was very inquisitive, very confrontational, and when issues would arise, he’d debate them… He caused us to re-think some decisions over the years. [He provided] great guidance to the firm in that regard.”
In a statement issued by Munsch Hardt officials this morning, the firm called Munsch, a graduate of the University of Houston Law Center, a “lawyer’s lawyer; one of the best of all time.
“Russ was a loving husband, father and friend, and he will be dearly missed,” the written statement said. “Until we learn more, we ask that you keep Russ’s family in your thoughts and prayers.”
Though well known for his legal skills and love for the game of golf, Kopf said many may not know that Munsch also played guitar in a local Rock & Roll band called Square Grooves, a golf term for a club head design that has caused controversy over the years for giving professional golfers an unfair advantage.
Despite his enthusiasm for the game, Kopf said Munsch did not become a serious golfer until he was in his forties. In fact, before picking up the sport, he declined a client’s invitation to play a weekend of golf at the Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters Tournament and widely known as one of the top golf courses in the world.
“Russ’s answer was, ‘I’m pretty busy this weekend; thanks for the invite, but I don’t think I can go,’” Kopf recalled. “There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. The client said, ‘Wow, I’ve never had anybody say no before.’”
After hanging up, Munsch walked down the hall to another partner’s office and asked if Augusta National “was a big deal,” Kopf said.
“The partner kicked him in the rear end and said, ‘It’s absolutely a big deal. Go apologize and say you’ll get on a plane tomorrow afternoon,” Kopf said. “It was an inauspicious start to his golf career.”
The other Texans on the plane were former FBI agent Greg De Haven of Spicewood and Glenn Garland, the retired CEO and co-founder of CLEAResult Consulting, an Austin energy consulting firm. The fourth passenger, also from Austin, was John Washburn, who was Munsch’s neighbor.
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