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Ex-bankruptcy decide claims immunity in swimsuit…
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Ex-bankruptcy decide claims immunity in swimsuit alleging he retaliated in opposition to litigant who revealed romance
January 3, 2024, 12:22 pm CST
Choose David R. Jones, a Texas chapter decide, in August 2020. Jones’ has mentioned he’s immune from a lawsuit contending that he retaliated in opposition to a litigant who revealed the decide’s relationship with a lawyer whose legislation agency had instances earlier than the court docket. Photograph by Brett Coomer/The Houston Chronicle by way of Getty Pictures.
Former U.S. Chapter Choose David R. Jones of Houston has mentioned he’s immune from an Oct. 4 lawsuit contending that he retaliated in opposition to a litigant who revealed the decide’s relationship with a lawyer whose legislation agency had instances earlier than the court docket.
Jones argued in a Dec. 29 movement to dismiss that the plaintiff, Michael D. Van Deelen, can’t sue over his affirmation of a reorganization plan as a result of it was a core judicial perform for which judges have immunity, report Law360 and Reuters.
The reorganization is on attraction, which is the correct approach to problem a judgment, Jones mentioned within the dismissal movement.
Van Deelen set in movement a sequence of occasions that led to Jones’ October resignation. On the time, a pending ethics criticism accused Jones of getting a romantic relationship with Elizabeth Freeman, a companion at Houston chapter agency Jackson Walker, on the identical time that the agency financially benefited from instances earlier than Jones.
Van Deelen had earlier revealed the connection allegations—acquired in an nameless letter—when he sought Jones’ recusal in his June 2020 fraud and conspiracy case in opposition to workers of offshore drilling firm McDermott Worldwide.
Van Deelen was a former shareholder within the firm, and he objected when the swimsuit that he filed in state court docket was eliminated to Jones’ court docket on the request of the Jackson Walker agency. A distinct decide denied Van Deelen’s recusal movement.
Jackson Walker represented McDermott Worldwide in its chapter.
Jones had already accepted a reorganization plan for McDermott Worldwide in March 2020—earlier than Van Deelen’s case was eliminated to his court docket. After Van Deelen revealed the romance allegations within the recusal movement, Freeman resigned from Jackson Walker and shaped her personal agency.
The reorganization accepted by Jones had worn out widespread fairness shares held by Van Deelen and different shareholders, Reuters explains. Van Deelen requested Jones to ship his fraud case again to state court docket.
Jones refused and mentioned in an order the reorganization was last and binding, in line with Van Deelen’s Oct. 4 swimsuit in opposition to Jones. Jones’ order additionally acknowledged that any additional state court docket litigation concerning McDermott Worldwide or the moment proceedings needs to be eliminated instantly to his court docket. The order was upheld by a federal district decide.
Van Deelen sued Jones on Oct. 4, arguing that Jones’ order was “retaliation for ‘outing’ defendant Jones and his paramour Freeman.”
See additionally:
“Accomplice denied any present relationship with chapter decide, Jackson Walker agency says”
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