A US bankruptcy judge with more than 3,000 cases on his docket has resigned after it was revealed he failed to disclose a romantic relationship with his former law clerk.
David Jones — a bankruptcy judge for the US Southern District of Texas who has overseen some of the Houston bankruptcy court’s largest Chapter 11 cases — is officially stepping down after a 12-year stint on the bench, Chief District Judge Randy Crane confirmed to Business Insider.
The decision follows a report that Jones approved more than $1 million in legal fees for work in 16 corporate cases billed between 2018 and 2022 by his live-in lover, Texas-based bankruptcy attorney Elizabeth Freeman. During that time, Freeman’s law firm Jackson Walker billed more than $6 million from those cases.
The two have reportedly been in a secret relationship for years, according to a complaint filed early this month against Jones that called Freeman his “live-in girlfriend.”
Freeman, who previously worked as Jones’ law clerk for six years, served as an attorney at Jackson Walker law firm up until December 2022, when she began her own firm, The Law Office of Liz Freeman.
The court documents were filed by individual plaintiff Michael Van Deelan, a shareholder in offshore driller McDermott International, which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020.
Jones — who has presided over high-profile chapter 11 cases for the likes of JCPenney, Neiman Marcus and oil drillers Denbury Resources — previously denied having a romantic relationship with Freeman despite the two living together in a home “valued in excess of $1 million” since 2017, according to the complaint.
A survivorship agreement attached to the deed of the house was obtained by The Journal, which reported that it lists both Jones and Freeman as owners, blatantly stating that the two own the property jointly. If one of the two dies, the other inherits the property, the agreement says.
Just days after the complaint was filed against Jones — which was reportedly the first public account of Jones and Freeman’s relationship — the judge told The Wall Street Journal that he was, in fact, in a relationship with Freeman — and has been for years.
The two agreed years ago that Freeman herself would never appear in Jones’ courtroom, The Journal reported.
Jones told the outlet that he didn’t feel the need to disclose the relationship because the two aren’t married and there’s no economic benefit to him from her legal work.
“I came to the conclusion that I had no duty to disclose,” the judge told The Journal, adding that he believed he was entitled to a certain degree of privacy about their relationship.
However, Jones ultimately resigned from the Houston court following a slew of media attention surrounding his contentious relationship, which triggered an investigation by the federal appellate court that oversees Texas, according to The Journal.
He announced the move during a Friday court hearing, though it won’t take effect until Nov. 15.
Jones and Freeman’s relationship first garnered attention when an individual plaintiff sued Jones over rulings he made while presiding over a 2020 bankruptcy case for offshore driller McDermott International.
Representatives for Jones and Freeman at her former firm, Jackson Walker, did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
In an emailed statement, Jones told Bloomberg Law: “I have become a distraction to the good work that the court does. To end that distraction and hopefully return focus, I have resigned.”
Van Deelan’s recent complaint is his second attempt at ousting Jones’ relationship on the grounds that the Jones and Freeman’s romance tainted the judge’s rulings.
Van Deelan’s 2021 filing that sought Jones’ recusal from the McDermott case was ultimately dismissed for lack of evidence.
Van Deelan’s recent complaint filed in Houston federal court again called Jones out for misconduct, claiming he and Freeman executed a “scheme in which corporate bank filers would hire Jackson Walker to represent them and then get favorable treatment from Defendant Jones because of his amorous relationship with Freeman.”
McDermott was being represented by Jackson Walker throughout the case, which was presided over by Jones.
Crane told Insider that the revelation was surprising. “Judge Jones was highly regarded and so we’re just very, very disappointed about this,” he said.
