A Houston attorney caught up in a judicial scandal over her relationship with a prominent ex-bankruptcy judge has asked a court to stop a government subpoena seeking her personal bank records as part of a probe.
The Justice Department’s bankruptcy monitor, the US Trustee, subpoenaed Zions Bancorp NA for financial records of former Jackson Walker LLP partner Elizabeth Freeman. But the subpoena should be quashed because the information it seeks is only “peripheral” to its investigation into the firm’s role in allegedly concealing the relationship, Freeman told the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on Tuesday.
The US Trustee has been conducting discovery as part of its efforts to claw back at least $18 million in fees from the firm across 33 bankruptcy cases. The government has said Jackson Walker breached its ethical duties by failing to disclose Freeman’s relationship between former Houston bankruptcy judge David R. Jones.
A judge last week referred Jackson Walker, which regularly represented clients in front of Jones, for disciplinary action based on what he found were ethical breaches.
The US Trustee has said Jackson Walker should not be able to keep the fees earned in bankruptcy cases involving Jones while he was secretly dating and living with Freeman in a house they owned together since 2017. Freeman left Jackson Walker at the end of 2022.
Zions, also known as Amegy Bank, has been asked to turn over several of Freeman’s checks and five and a half years of bank statements, she said. Amegy has until Sept. 27 to produce the records. Freeman has asked for an emergency hearing on the issue.
Freeman also said the subpoena risks the exposure of her personal bank records. She noted that the US Trustee recently disclosed that several court exhibits containing personal information about her were lost by FedEx when an unknown person signed for the package.
A contracted court reporter firm used by the US Trustee mailed the exhibits last month via FedEx to the firm’s headquarters in San Francisco, but they never arrived, according to court papers.
“Given the UST’s previous mishandling and exposure of Ms. Freeman’s personal information and breach of this Court’s protective order, there is no valid reason to force Ms. Freeman to endure the additional risk of exposure of her personal banking records over an issue of marginal relevance to the UST,” she said.
Jones, who resigned last year as a top bankruptcy judge after admitting to the romance, told The Wall Street Journal at the time that he didn’t benefit financially from Freeman’s legal work.
Freeman told the court Tuesday she’s already turned over to the US Trustee checks she used to pay expenses on the home she and Jones own together. She said she’s “paid a few expenses” on the house since Jones bought it for nearly $1 million.
The Justice Department and Freeman’s attorney declined to comment. Zions didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Freeman is represented by Law Office of Tom Kirkendall.
The case is Professional Fee Matters Concerning Jackson Walker Law Firm, Bankr. S.D. Tex., No. 23-00645, motion 9/24/24.
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