Federal judges in the Southern District of Texas have agreed to let a different court hear any lawsuits against U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones — including the case that revealed his previously undisclosed relationship with a bankruptcy lawyer and prompted his resignation, Reuters reported. Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane in an order on Friday said that his counterpart in the Western District of Texas, Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses, had consented to the referral of all cases against Judge Jones to her. Moses, in turn, may either hear those cases herself or assign them to another judge on her court. While Crane did not give an explanation for his order, courts often transfer cases to other jurisdictions when there is a potential conflict. Just two lawsuits are pending against Judge Jones, both by self-represented litigants. One of them, by a former shareholder of energy company McDermott International, helped prompt Judge Jones' announced resignation on Oct. 15. McDermott had gone through a chapter 11 restructuring approved by the Houston-based bankruptcy judge in 2020. The Oct. 4 lawsuit, by former shareholder Michael Van Deelen, accused Jones of failing to disclose his relationship with a partner at Jackson Walker, a local law firm that handled many bankruptcy cases in Jones' courthouse, including that of McDermott.
