A federal judicial council on Monday approved a plan to hire a replacement for U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones, who announced he will resign after admitting he was in a previously undisclosed romantic relationship with a lawyer whose firm regularly appeared before him, Retuers reported. The 5th U.S. Circuit Judicial Council during a meeting in Dallas signed off on a plan to seek a new judge in Houston to replace Jones, who before announcing his resignation, handled more major chapter 11 corporate bankruptcies than any judge nationally. The next step is for Chief 5th Circuit Judge Priscilla Richman to post the position and appoint a five-member selection panel to review applications, said U.S. District Judge Randy Crane, the chief district court judge for the Southern District of Texas, where Jones is based. Judge Crane, a member of the 19-member council, said the process will likely take about six months, meaning the court will be short handed for a few months after Jones' resignation takes effect on Nov. 15. In an Oct. 16 letter asking the 5th Circuit to approve hiring a replacement for Jones, Eduardo Rodriguez, the chief bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of Texas, said bankruptcy filings were at a record high in his court, with each of its five judges handling around 3,500 cases. "The Court could not continue to adequately serve the public with only four judges," Judge Rodriguez wrote.
