Stop me if you’ve heard this one in the past.
A dog, a duck and a peacock walk into a courtroom … no, not actually. The animals made their metaphorical looks and provided a little bit of light-hearted humor to the otherwise laborious, monetary legal arguments in the Serta Simmons personal bankruptcy case.
The latest courtroom hearing in the continuous case included some levity to closing arguments as an army of lawyers representing the business, the numerous lending institutions, personal equity companies, financial institutions and more appeared prior to the Houston court after being not able to reach a friendly contract beyond the courtroom.
While courtrooms are primarily severe settings in which severe business is carried out, in my 30-plus years of covering lawsuit, both criminal and civil, I’ve had the chance to stumble upon some amusing minutes. The most recent Serta Simmons Bedding hearing in front of Judge David R. Jones, the chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas, has actually shepherded some amusing minutes.
The dog recommendation appeared initially when among the lawyers referred to man’s four-legged buddy in recommendation to SSB’s 2020 refinancing which lies at the heart of a claim submitted by Apollo Global Management and others versus personal equity company Advent International and SSB. The fit declares that the refinancing deal was unreasonable and pressed some financial institutions further down the payment line.
A couple of hours later on in the five-hour hearing, the peacock recommendation was made by a lawyer for another lending institution who utilized the vibrant, feathered bird stating the “peacock” need to be dealt with in a different way than a psychological assistance dog. The examples were flying quickly throughout the hearing.
You can’t make this things up.
The judge, for his part, has likewise showed a funny side sometimes because January when the business initially declared reorganizing under the U.S. Bankruptcy code. He has actually likewise revealed empathy, and he has actually gotten stern with the lawyers arguing the case to hold them to the law.
During the latest hearing, in recommendation to a lawyer’s reference of being cognizant of the court’s time, Jones said the court’s time is minimal and quipped that he takes a look at his W-2 every year in recommendation to his wage.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Duke University — I’ll forgive him that — an MBA from Southern Methodist University, a law degree from the University of Houston Law Center, and a Master of Law degree, once again, from Duke. Come on; go Heels!
Oh, sure, there’s a great deal of case law — much of which is thick, laborious and filled with legal lingo — referenced in attorney arguments and a barrage of concerns from the bench, once in a while there’s a funny small talk that comes out throughout hearings that make eavesdroping worth the time.
