U.S. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Eduardo Rodriguez officially administered the oath Tuesday to former Weil, Gotshal & Manges partner Alfredo Perez to become the newest bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of Texas.
In an order signed July 16 by Chief Judge Rodriguez, Judge Perez will immediately join the Southern District’s complex case panel, which handles larger corporate Chapter 11 bankruptcies.
Judge Perez, who will have chambers in Galveston, replaces former Houston Bankruptcy Judge David Jones, who resigned last fall when it was revealed that he was involved in a secret romantic relationship with former Jackson Walker partner Elizabeth Freeman.
Judge Perez joins his former Weil Gotshal partner, Judge Christopher Lopez, on the complex case panel. Judge Marvin Isgur, who has been one of the judges on the complex panel, will continue to handle the cases currently assigned to him, according to the court order.
A decade ago, Judge Jones and Judge Isgur established the complex commercial bankruptcy docket, which focused on larger companies seeking to restructure under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The special docket became highly popular with corporate debtors and their lawyers and financial advisors because Judge Jones and Judge Isgur had significant experience in private practice with the more complicated, larger-dollar business bankruptcies.
Chief Judge Priscilla Richman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit officially appointed Judge Perez to the post in an order signed July 11.
Judge Perez retired last year after practicing corporate bankruptcy and restructuring for four decades at Weil Gotshal, where he worked on bankruptcies ranging from Chuck E. Cheese and American Airlines to Core Scientific and Lehman Brothers.