Every time I hear about an update to the scandal involving the once-clandestine romance between former judge David R. Jones and attorney Elizabeth Freeman, I am immediately transported to my grandmother’s living room, watching the latest episode of “Days of Our Lives.” There are just so many twists and turns in the whole affair that saw the (now former) federal bankruptcy judge involved with the (now former) bankruptcy partner of a major law firm — Jackson Walker — continue to hear cases involving that partner/law firm.
The hits just keep on coming for everyone associated with the scandal. The Justice Department’s bankruptcy monitor, the U.S. Trustee, is seeking to claw back $18 million in fees paid to Jackson Walker in 33 cases handled by Jones while he and Freeman were in a relationship.
The latest revelations, from Bloomberg Law, delve into some of the communications between Freeman’s colleagues when they caught wind of a potential relationship between the pair. We already know Freeman shared some insights on what Jones might think of cases brought by particular firm clients. But this latest tranche of documents is also eye-opening.
In 2021, a disgruntled shareholder of Jackson Walker client McDermott International, Michael Van Deelen, caught wind of the Jones/Freeman relationship — via anonymous letter because of COURSE. Van Deelen reached out to Jackson Walker partner Matt Cavenaugh about the allegations.
Cavenaugh texted his colleague Veronica Polnick, on May 20, 2021, that Freeman and Jones had “been very careful” and had “taken a lot of steps.”
“But the fact that they’ve taken so many steps makes it problematic from a pr standpoint,” Cavenaugh said.
“Right,” Polnick, who was previously a briefing attorney for Jones, responded. “They saw this coming 10 years ago.”
These backchannels continued.
Two days after Van Deelen told Cavenaugh about the anonymous letter, Polnick texted Cavenaugh that while there would be “some embarrassment” she felt it would “be ok,” and that they could “cover” until things passed.
But Van Deelen sought to have Jones recused from a matter he was pursuing against McDermott, based on that anonymous letter. Cavenaugh called Van Deelen’s allegations “defamatory statements,” and wanted the letter sealed by the court. That matter was referred to Jones’s colleague, Judge Marvin Isgur. (Who would get real mad when all the details of the scandal came out.)
Cavenaugh confided that he barely slept the night before, partially because he spent three hours rereading all of his declarations in prior cases. Cavenaugh often signed the firm’s sworn bankruptcy court declarations requiring professionals to disclose connections to others parties.
Isgur allowed the letter to remain sealed, and wouldn’t allow the substance of the letter’s allegations to be discussed, calling it inadmissible hearsay.
By September 2021, Jones would also grant Jackson Walker’s motion to keep the letter sealed.
Though the firm averted crisis (and Jones’s recusal), there was still animosity at the firm over what went down.
With the letter’s allegations defused and the hearing behind them, Cavenaugh turned his ire at “400,” Jones’ nickname stemming from the number of his Houston courtroom. Jones had a “selfish attitude” and needed “independent advice,” he said.
“Between you and me, I’m very angry at 400,” Cavenaugh said in a text to Polnick. “Not because of what happened, but because of the dismissiveness of the issues.”
Attitudes like Jones’ “can only end in bad results for our friend,” and while Jones would be fine, Freeman wouldn’t, Cavenaugh told Polnick.
Of course, Jones would also be out of a job when the scandal broke, though it seems Cavenaugh was unaware of the scope of it at the time he made these statements.
A representative from Jackson Walker maintains the firm’s position that they were misled about the Freeman/Jones relationship, saying, “Everything that has come out, including the more than 30 depositions taken in this case, thousands of pages of documents produced, and Ms. Freeman’s own statement to the US Trustee has consistently demonstrated that she misled Jackson Walker management about this relationship.”
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].