Butler Snow Leads Fort Worth Elder Care Center Bankruptcy
Citing $112 million in municipal debt, Fort Worth senior living center The Stayton at Museum Way has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in five years.
Jackson Walker Bankruptcy Fee Cases Reassigned After Judge Isgur’s Recusal
In the week since U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur recused himself from all disputes involving Jackson Walker and the U.S. Trustee — related to the firm’s failure to disclose a former bankruptcy partner had a romantic relationship with a sitting bankruptcy judge — they have been officially reassigned to other bankruptcy judges sitting in the Southern District of Texas, court records show.
Houston Bankruptcy Judge Lopez’s Highly Complex, Big-Dollar Docket
Few Texas courtrooms are as busy as Houston Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez's. His docket of more than 380 business bankruptcies, plus a couple thousand personal and consumer bankruptcies, includes some of the highest profile and bitterly disputed corporate restructurings currently pending in the U.S., including J&J’s controversial $10 billion Chapter 11 Texas Two-Step restructuring under the subsidiary Red River Talc, and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Info Wars media company. Judge Lopez is, by all accounts, establishing himself as one of the premier jurists for the most complex restructurings. But there are things lawyers should know when handling cases before Judge Lopez.
Kirkland, Bracewell Advise Vertex Energy in Bankruptcy
Houston-based energy transition products provider Vertex Energy Operating filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday in the Southern District of Texas citing $500 million to $1 billion in financial liabilities. Vertex Energy General Counsel James Gregory hired Kirkland & Ellis and Bracewell as its legal advisors in the restructuring. The case has been assigned to Houston Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez.
Led by Jones Day and Porter Hedges, J&J Brings Texas Two-Step to Houston
Johnson & Johnson, hoping the third time's a charm for solving its multibillion-dollar talc baby powder litigation fiasco, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday for its Red River Talc subsidiary in Houston. The case featuring the highly controversial Texas Two-Step procedure has been assigned to Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez. Two Texas lawyers expected to play key roles for the debtors in the case are Jones Day partner Gregory Gordon of Dallas and Porter Hedges partner John Higgins of Houston.
Judge Isgur Refers Jackson Walker for Possible Disciplinary Proceedings, Recuses in Bankruptcy Fee Case
In the two-page order, Judge Marvin Isgur also recused himself from all disputes “between the United States Trustee and Jackson Walker that relate to alleged non-disclosure issues by Jackson Walker.” The order was issued in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Altera Infrastructure Project Services, in which former judge David Jones acted as a mediator and Jackson Walker represented a party.
Judge Schedules Deposition of Ex-Judge Jones, Sorts Out Discovery Dispute Between Jackson Walker, U.S. Trustee
During a hearing Tuesday Chief U.S. bankruptcy Judge Eduardo Rodriguez brushed aside scheduling concerns the parties raised and ordered that Albert Alonzo, who served as case manager to former Judge David Jones for more than a decade, be deposed on Sept. 18. Jones, who resigned his office after public revelations that he had a secret romantic relationship with a Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner, will be deposed in the same courtroom, under the supervision of Chief Judge Rodriguez, the following day.
Court: U.S. Trustee May Depose Former Bankruptcy Judge on Secret Romantic Relationship
Former Houston Bankruptcy Judge David Jones, who oversaw significant corporate bankruptcies over the past decade, can now be questioned under oath about his undisclosed personal relationship with Elizabeth Freeman, then a partner at Jackson Walker, which earned millions in legal fees from cases the judge presided over.
The ruling, made by U.S. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Eduardo Rodriguez over the weekend, allows the U.S. Trustee to depose both Jones and his former case manager, Albert Alonzo, regarding the details of this secret relationship. Additionally, they may be compelled to provide personal documents related to the relationship, but this process will occur under the direct supervision of the chief judge.
Jackson Walker Pushes for Dismissal from ‘Fiction’ ‘Labeled as a Complaint’ in Judge Jones-Related RICO Suit
On Wednesday, Jackson Walker ripped apart the racketeering and fraud lawsuit former Bouchard Transportation Company CEO Morton Bouchard III had lodged against it in February after the secret romance between former bankruptcy judge David Jones and former Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner Elizabeth Freeman came to light. “Mr. Bouchard’s response fails to solve the standing and pleading defects that plague the fiction his counsel has labeled as a complaint,” the firm told the court, doubling down on arguments it first made in May when it sought dismissal of the lawsuit.
Transcript of Show Cause Hearing Released in Judge Jones Case
On Wednesday morning, a redacted version of a transcript from a recent show cause hearing — in the litigation to determine whether Jackson Walker should be forced to return about $13 million in legal fees earned in bankruptcy cases before former Judge David Jones — was made publicly available.