The judge’s actions ‘tarnish’ a number of cases.
The post Kirkland & Ellis Deeply Concerned Judge’s Romantic Scandal Is Going To ‘Tarnish’ Their Cases appeared first on Above the Law.
The wild ethical scandal birthed via Texas bankruptcy judge David R. Jones’s romantic relationship just keeps on getting bigger.
Jones, the (now former) federal bankruptcy judge, was involved with Elizabeth Freeman, the (now former) bankruptcy partner of a major law firm — Jackson Walker — but he continued to hear cases involving that partner/law firm. That led to his resignation from the bench and a whole mess of legal issues. Now, the Department of Justice is suing Freeman’s former firm to try to disgorge up to $23 million in fees it collected in cases overseen by Jones.
As part of that case, Kirkland & Ellis partner Joshua Sussberg gave a deposition where Jones had a “lapse in judgment.” Which, honestly, seems like an understatement. As reported by Bloomberg Law, during the deposition he made it clear what Kirkland would have done if they knew what was going on — for the record Sussberg said, “We were absolutely shocked,” when news of the relationship became public.
“To the extent that we were aware of an actual financial relationship, I can’t tell you exactly what it was we would have done, but we absolutely would’ve made certain that that was out in the open for fear of disrupting an existing case or go forward cases,” Sussberg said.
Kirkland worked extensively with Jackson Walker on bankruptcy matters in Texas. And Sussberg said during the deposition that had he known about the Freeman/Jones relationship, he would have blown the whistle. Not *necessarily* out of a higher ethical standard but because Kirkland has “reputation and a brand that it’s protecting.”
Sussberg went on to note that even if the bankruptcy regulations do not specifically mandate disclosure of the Jones/Freeman relationship, Kirkland errs on the side of disclosure. “There’s all sorts of different legal rules, regulations, and ability to challenge, and remedies and the like, but I would absolutely say that I do believe it tarnishes all these cases,” Sussberg said. “And that’s a great concern from our perspective.”
Jackson Walker maintains Freeman misled the firm about the nature of her relationship with Jones. The disgorgment case is slated to go to trial in April.
Earlier: Former Judge Gets Combative When Pressed On His Romantic Relationship
Who Knew What When? The Latest In The Judge/Partner Romantic Scandal Rocking The Legal World
You Have To Read The Texts Uncovered In The Judge/ Biglaw Partner Romantic Scandal
Federal Judge Slams Biglaw Firm, Says Firm ‘Defiled The Very Temple Of Justice’
Biglaw Firm Still Paying The Price For Former Partner’s Romantic Scandal
Scandal-Ridden Former Federal Judge Seeks To Squash Lawsuit That Started It All
The Wild Ethical Lapse That Led To The Resignation Of A Top Bankruptcy Judge
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].
