Jackson Walker Avoids Judge-Initiated Disciplinary Proceeding

A Houston federal court won’t hear an ethics complaint against Jackson Walker LLP for failing to disclose knowledge of a romantic relationship between a former partner at the firm and now-resigned bankruptcy judge David R. Jones.

Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur’s call for sanctions against Jackson Walker seeks a penalty that can’t be granted under applicable disciplinary rules, the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas said in an order Monday. The court can sanction individual attorneys that violate ethical codes, but it lacks authority to financially punish an entire law firm, Judge Lee H. Rosenthal wrote.

“The basis for that limitation is that it is often unwarranted and unjust to sanction an entire firm for actions that are primarily, if not entirely, those of a few individuals within the firm,” he said. “The result would be to sanction many who had no involvement in, or knowledge about, any wrongdoing.”

Isgur, who said in a September filing that Jackson Walker’s ethical breaches can’t be excused, has agreed to withdraw his complaint, according to the order.

Separate legal actions related to the romance between Jones and former Jackson Walker attorney Elizabeth Freeman remain open.

“There is no risk that Jackson Walker and some of its lawyers will escape scrutiny and potential punishment for the failure to disclose that led to this complaint in the first place,” Rosenthal added, noting the litany of other proceedings to hold the Texas law firm accountable.

Isgur filed his referral for disciplinary measures the same day that he recused himself from several proceedings where the Justice Department’s bankruptcy monitor is trying to claw back as much as $23 million in fees the firm earned in cases potentially tainted by failures to disclose the relationship.

Isgur, who served with Jones in private practice and later on the bench, had previously called the ex-judge his “adopted son.”

The relationship between Jones and Freeman, who was a partner at Jackson Walker until late 2022, became public in October 2023. Jones resigned from the bench soon afterward.

The case is In re Jackson Walker LLP, S.D. Tex., No. 24-01523, Order 2/3/25.