Booming Texas Bankruptcy Venue in Doubt After Judge Resigns (1)

The sudden resignation of a Houston judge credited with turning his federal district into a corporate bankruptcy hub is raising questions over whether struggling corporations will increasingly look elsewhere to file for Chapter 11.

The US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas is at the center of a judicial scandal involving David R. Jones, who resigned earlier this week following revelations that he kept secret a multi-year romantic relationship with a local attorney at Jackson Walker LLP, a law firm that regularly represented large companies in his court.

Jones was instrumental in creating the district’s complex case panel, ...