Judge Michael Parker was sworn in as the newest Bankruptcy Judge in the Western District of Texas on November 2, 2021. He was a law clerk to Judge Ronald B. King, the judge who he replaced and practiced in San Antonio with Norton Rose Fulbright for many years. He was kind enough to answer some written questions that I sent him and I did some research on my own. Here are some things you should know about Judge Parker.
Judge Parker holds four degrees: B.S. in engineering from the University of Colorado; M.S. in engineering, M.B.A., and J.D. from U.T. Austin. He graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1993. He clerked for Judge King from 1993-1995 and worked for Norton Rose Fulbright for the entire time from when he left his clerkship until he took the bench. He is Board Certified in both Business and Consumer Bankruptcy. He was a founding member of the Larry E. Kelly Inn of Court and is currently its president.
Judge Parker was the vice chairman of the San Antonio Legal Services Association (SALSA), a pro bono service organization that provides volunteer attorney free legal services to those with limited means. He has been active in SALSA and its predecessor for many years and volunteered his time on numerous occasions to represent clients pro bono, including representing a debtor pro bono in a chapter 12 case.
I have slightly edited the Q & A for clarity.
Q: How did you make the decision to attend law school? Was this something you had always planned?
A: I had no plan to attend law school. I planned to be an engineer. While I enjoyed the engineering, I changed my life plans while working as a construction project manager in Dallas. When I looked ahead to where I would be in 5-10 years, my job appeared to be a lifetime of travel from project to project, which appealed to a younger me, but didn’t fit my long-term plans. I investigated other options and decided on law school because I was fascinated by the law, and a law degree appeared to offer me more options than other paths.
Q: Did you take a bankruptcy class in law school?
A Yes. My love for bankruptcy started with Jay Westbrook’s secured credit course and subsequent bankruptcy course. I also took the bankruptcy practice course/lab, which was taught by Kaaran Thomas and her then ex-husband Matt Hoffman. At that time, Kaaran principally represented creditors and Matt principally represented debtors. The class required that each student propose and confirm a plan of reorganization.
Q: Did you know that you wanted to practice bankruptcy law when you were in law school?
A: Not when I entered, but by the time I graduated, I was pretty sure. Construction and criminal law still had some appeal. My time clerking for Judge King sealed the deal. I turned down a clerkship with the Court of Criminal Appeals to clerk for Judge King.
Q: How did your background in engineering prepare you to practice law?
A: Engineers and lawyers think similarly. Both professions solve problems for clients. My engineering background taught me how to approach and solve problems for clients.
Q: What did you learn clerking from Judge King?
A; I learned what good lawyers do and don’t do inside and outside the court.
Q: Where have you practiced since concluding your clerkship? How would you describe your practice?
A: For 26 years I had the honor of practicing at Fulbright & Jaworski (which became Norton Rose Fulbright in 2013). My practice varied over time. Early on, I mostly represented several chapter 7 trustees, various commercial and bankruptcy litigants (large and small), landlords, unsecured creditors’ committees, chapter 11 trustees, large creditors, and individual (before BAPCPA in 2005) and corporate debtors in chapter 11 and chapter 7 matters. Over time I was also fortunate to represent several large, mid-stream oil & gas companies in (i) large chapter 11 matters and litigation, (ii) large, distressed acquisitions, and (iii) some international matters.
Q: Did you have a law firm mentor you would like to mention?
A: I had several law firm mentors who took me under their wings and taught me how to practice law, but a vast majority of my time was spent working with Jack Partain, Jr. and Steve Peirce on projects Jack brought to the firm. Other mentors are too numerous to mention.
Q: What are some of the most important cases that you have worked on and why?
A: I represented the Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, Case No. 21- 30725 (S.D. Texas, Judge Jones) in its chapter 11 case triggered by the events of the February 2020 Texas freeze. The case contains a plethora of fascinating legal issues. The case is important because its outcome has implications for the entire ERCOT power market, which has implications for the State of Texas.
I represented the largest unsecured creditor in the In re O. W. Bunker U.S.A., LLC, In re O.W. Bunker North American, LLC, In re O.W. Bunker Holding North America, Inc. bankruptcy cases administratively consolidated under Case No. 5:14-bk-51720 (D. Conn.). The world-wide O.W. Bunker enterprise was the largest bunker fuel supplier in the world when it collapsed in November of 2014. The U.S. O.W. Bunker bankruptcies triggered the “arresting” of the multi-million dollar vessels which had purchased bunker fuel at ports throughout the world. Maritime law allows a vendor who provides “necessaries” for a vessel, to recover against the vessel in rem for payment. The case and related adversary and arrest proceedings spanned five years, multiple U.S. district courts, multiple foreign courts, including Britain’s highest appellate court, two U.S. circuit courts and the U.S. Supreme Court before it was globally resolved. The case had international and national legal implications for the entire bunker fuel and shipping industry.
I represented the creditors committee and then the chapter 7 trustee in the notorious chapter 11 and then chapter 7 case of Franklin Wright, Jr. At one time, Mr. Wright had the most lucrative personal injury litigation practice in San Antonio. The charismatic Mr. Wright filed his initial case to deal with multiple legal problems stemming from his failure to pay his income taxes, his hiding of his assets, and his borrowing of money from his personal injury clients. Those problems triggered a federal indictment and Texas disbarment proceedings. I represented the trustee in a lawsuit against Mr. Wright’s former law partner, who absconded in the dead of night on Christmas eve, with Mr. Wright’s lucrative contingency fee clients and files. Mr. Wright was our key witness. The legal precedent set in the case preceded the collapse of several large law firms nationally, which also had to deal with the tension between the value of contingency fee matters to a bankruptcy estate and the right of a client to choose their own counsel.
Q: If the answer is different, what are some of the most personally significant cases you have worked on and why? (i.e., for me personally, one of the most significant cases I worked on was a pro bono child custody case where my work allowed an abused child to be adopted by her Uncle and grow up to get married and have a family of her own).
A: I have done substantial pro bono work during my career. My first pro bono matter was referred to me by Volunteer Legal Services in Austin for a family farm in rural Texas. VLS referred the case to me the first month I started working for Fulbright, and just after I had clerked for Judge King. VLS thought the farm clients needed to be filed as a chapter 12 case and no one at VLS had any chapter 12 experience. That case involved threatened litigation and a negotiated settlement with the local bank that allowed the farmers to keep their homestead, some grazing and farming land and some cattle. I received a tin of homemade cookies that Christmas, and for the next couple years as my compensation. As a result of my experience with that case, I regularly took on pro bono cases and served as my then firm’s San Antonio Office pro bono chair for two decades.
Q: What are some of the things you did to prepare for taking the bench since your appointment?
A: For many months, I spent countless hours watching (via Webex) the dockets of Judge King, Judge Gargotta, Judge Mott and Judge Davis. After some of the hearings I asked each judge questions about what they did and why. I met with the chapter 13 trustees and multiple consumer debtors’ attorneys to ask about their concerns and what the court might do better in their opinion. I studied all the key Fifth Circuit chapter 13 opinions as recommended and suggested by the Chapter 13 trustees and by debtors’ counsel. I actively participated (via Zoom) in Phase 1 of what is colloquially referred to as “baby judges’ school.” I met (via Zoom) with the Waco Bankruptcy Bar Associations to ask about their concerns and what the court might do better in their opinion. I am active in multiple bankruptcy bar groups, whose members I consulted regarding their thoughts about what I should do to prepare for the bench.
Q: Do you find the constant sniping about Red Raiders and Aggies to be tiresome? (Please don’t answer that question).
A: My children attended or are attending UT, Rice, Texas A&M, UTHSCSA, Texas Tech University, Savanah College of Art and Design and Utah Valley University. I am accustomed to, and a fan of, university rivalries.
Q: Are there any practice areas that you are likely to encounter as a judge that were not part of your law firm experience and how do you intend to prepare for those areas?
A: Yes. Chapter 13 practice. I focused most of my time before taking the bench on preparing for the chapter 13 practice – both by studying the practice area and by consulting with those who regularly practice in that area. I also focused on the bthanks est practices of the judges I know and judges I have appeared before.
Q: What is a personal challenge that you have had to overcome in your life?
A: I worked through each of my college experiences to pa
y for those experiences.
y for those experiences.
Q: What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?
I used to spend all my spare time (i) at the soccer fields coaching, refereeing and watching, and (ii) at my children’s non-soccer events – swimming, UIL, debate, choir, theatre, scouts, Latin club, etc.
As a former soccer referee myself, I can note some parallels and some distinctions between refereeing and judging which may help Judge Parker in his new role. Under the Bankruptcy Act, judges were known as referees. Both referees and bankruptcy judges apply laws, although there are only 17 laws of soccer. Referees have assistant referees to help them while judges have law clerks. However, the biggest distinction is that judges sit behind a bench while a referee has to make his decisions while running up and down the field with the players.
Many thanks to Judge Parker for taking the time to give these thoughtful responses. I hope that you find these answers helpful as you prepare to appear before him.
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