Ex-Bankruptcy Judge’s Girlfriend Is Under Criminal Probe (1)

Former Jackson Walker LLP partner Elizabeth Freeman, who has come under scrutiny for failing to disclose her relationship to a prominent ex-bankruptcy judge, is subject to a criminal investigation, her lawyer told a bankruptcy court.

Attorney Tom Kirkendall made the statement during a hearing Thursday as he argued that a subpoena from the Justice Department’s bankruptcy monitor, the US Trustee’s office, for years of his client’s bank records should be quashed.

“I find it ironic that the US Trustee is attempting to take advantage of its sister division’s criminal investigation of Ms. Freeman in trying to defend against this motion to quash,” Kirkendall said.

Freeman has been caught up in a judicial scandal over her relationship with former Houston bankruptcy judge David R. Jones, who resigned last year after the romance was revealed. The US Trustee has been pursuing a civil investigation into Jackson Walker’s failure to disclose Freeman’s relationship with Jones in as many as 33 bankruptcy cases.

Separately, judicial officials in the Southern District of Texas have also been asked to retain records as part of a criminal probe. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Jones was facing a criminal inquiry by federal prosecutors over his once-secret relationship with Freeman.

Freeman’s criminal attorney, Dan Cogdell of Cogdell Law Firm, declined to comment.

Fifth Amendment

Freeman has asserted her Fifth Amendment right to not produce the bank documents when she was subpoenaed, a US Trustee attorney on Thursday told the bankruptcy court.

The US Trustee has said Freeman and Jones began living together in his former house in 2015, according to court records.

The subpoena to Zions Bancorp NA, also known as Amegy Bank, for several of Freeman’s checks and five and a half years of bank statements is meant to find the extent to which she and Jones “were financially entangled or shared expenses, including but not limited to household expenses,” the US Trustee said in court records.

The US Trustee has been conducting discovery as part of its efforts to claw back at least $18 million in fees from the firm in cases that involved Jones. The government has said Jackson Walker breached its ethical duties by failing to disclose Freeman’s relationship with Jones.

Judge Eduardo V. Rodriguez on Thursday overruled Kirkendall’s motion to quash the subpoena, but ordered the government take extra care to make sure the records aren’t inadvertently disclosed.

Kirkendall called the US Trustee’s subpoena a fishing expedition.

Rodriguez also denied the US Trustee’s request to extend discovery deadlines, a blow for the office as Jackson Walker fights in Oregon court to protect communications with its ethics lawyers from a motion to turn over documents.

The case is Professional Fee Matters Concerning the Jackson Walker Law Firm, Bankr. S.D. Tex., No. 23-00645, hearing 9/26/24.