Here, the Court grapples with an inheritance—the latest chapter of a litigation odyssey that began over a decade ago in a different domain.
Adv. No. 18-1091, Kansas City Southern Railway Company vs. Luz Chavez vs. Rosenthal & Watson, P.C. (Bankr. W.D. Tex. 1/31/20), p.1. The opinion can be found here.
To the outsider, proceedings in bankruptcy court may seem like lawyers talking in incomprehensible jargon while the judge looks down from on high staring Sphinx-like until called upon to make a ruling. However, there is a part of trial work that applies to bankruptcy as well and that is telling stories. The lawyers each spin their tales through arguments, witnesses and exhibits. The judge then takes the raw material the lawyers have given him and fashions it into his own tale. This case is a tragic tale of clients and some lawyers who failed to serve them well.
Note: on the cold light of the digital page, as drafted by the judge and his clerks, the story takes on clear heroes and villains. In this post, I do not seek to judge the parties, the judge has already done that. Instead, I am re-telling a story that I heard from a judge and found compelling.
