In a particularly harsh opinion, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes of Houston denied an appeal by a former chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee who challenged his removal from all 12 of his cases after the lawyer billed an estate $3,486 for his family's four-night trip to New Orleans — a "breach of trust" that the judge wrote could not be explained away by "poor judgment,” the Texas Lawyer reported today. “Poor judgment can come in a variety of forms. Overpleading, excessive depositions and weak coordination are poor judgment. Defalcation — not losing it to inefficiency — purloining estate funds is poor judgment, but it is of a distinct character. Staying in an expensive hotel might be poor judgment, but staying in an expensive one in a vacation town when you are not needed is categorically worse," Judge Hughes wrote in the August 11 opinion denying W. Steve Smith's appeal to retain his trustee position. "Smith's emphasis on his interest in the office suggests poor judgment. The inquiry is not about him; it is emphatically about the integrity of the administration of estates in bankruptcy," Judge Hughes said.
