Former Houston bankruptcy judge David R. Jones is in talks with government attorneys to avoid testifying live during a trial over millions of dollars in fees awarded to a Texas law firm that once employed his girlfriend.
Jones indicated that he shouldn’t have to testify because he already completed a court-supervised deposition in September, according to a notice he filed Monday in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
The trial will determine whether up to $23 million in fees the firm collected in cases involving Jones while he was in relationship with a Jackson Walker partner can be vacated and whether the firm, which never disclosed the romance, can be sanctioned.
The Monday notice comes after the ex-judge received a Jan. 31 subpoena from the US Trustee, which serves as the government’s bankruptcy watchdog, to testify for a trial tentatively set to begin in April.
“Should the discussions with the United States Trustee prove unsuccessful, Jones reserves the right to request the Court to grant relief quashing the UST Subpoena,” Jones said.
Jones resigned as one of the top judges in the country for large Chapter 11 cases soon after his relationship with former Jackson Walker partner Elizabeth Freeman became public in late 2023. Freeman, who lived with and owned a home with Jones, left Jackson Walker in December 2022.
The US Trustee has been in litigation with Jackson Walker over its failure to disclose the relationship, arguing it breached its ethical duties.
The Texas firm regularly represented large corporate clients as co-counsel to Kirkland & Ellis LLP in cases Jones oversaw. Jones has said he didn’t need to recuse himself from those cases.
Jackson Walker has accused Freeman of lying to it about the full extent of the relationship and said there’s no evidence that anyone in its management knew about the romance. The firm has also maintained that it acted responsibly at all times.
Jones was at times combative during his nine-hour deposition last year. He cited his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times, according to a transcript obtained by Bloomberg Law.
Jones is represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.
The case is Professional Fee Matters Concerning the Jackson Walker Law Firm, Bankr. S.D. Tex., No. 23-00645, notice 2/24/25.
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