Debtor Representations

Texas Rangers Baseball Club (Co-Counsel-Chapter 11)
Represented the debtor in facilitating an auction for the baseball team and confirming a plan of reorganization making it one of the most significant and high-profile bankruptcies ever filed in Texas.

Mirant Energy (Debtor’s Conflict Counsel-Chapter 11)
Represented one of the largest bankruptcies ever filed in Texas resulting in full recovery for creditors.

Mirant Bowline, LLC; Mirant Hudson Valley Gas Corp.; Mirant New York, Inc.
Confirmed a plan of reorganization for the debtors with assets in excess of $200 million and a number of outstanding tax and environmental issues. The plan of reorganization provided the same treatment to creditors of the three emerging entities as to similarly situated creditors, and all creditor claims were satisfied.

George Leroy “Buck” Harris
Represented George Leroy “Buck” Harris (Buck) as a debtor in an individual Chapter 11 case.  Buck engaged in various business ventures throughout his life. Late in his career, he was involved in certain business acquisitions related to which he guaranteed a substantial amount of business loans.  There were defaults on the loans.  In early 2022 Buck suffered a series of strokes which led to significant decline in his physical and mental capacity and rendered him unable to conduct his businesses.  His creditors took various actions to collect on his guarantees.  With the assistance of our attorneys, a Plan was approved in his Chapter 11 case.  Through our efforts in the filing of the Chapter 11 case and the Plan, funds were made available for Buck’s maintenance and care as he is no longer able to generate income.  Buck’s assets were liquidated in an orderly fashion and his secured creditors were paid.

Kerwin Ste.vens
Representing Kerwin Ste.phens in his pending Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.  Prior to filing bankruptcy, an adverse judgment had been entered against Mr. Ste.phens in connection with an oil & gas deal.  After a decade of litigation and appeals, the claims of two remaining plaintiffs had yet to be established by final judgment. The Firm’s attorneys assisted Mr. Ste.phens in initiating a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case and then removed the state court litigation to bankruptcy court. In the removed litigation, the Firm’s attorneys filed briefs contending that the jury verdict did not support claims against Mr. Ste.phens under any legal theory.  Thereafter, the Bankruptcy Court entered a “take nothing” judgment against plaintiffs and in favor of Mr. Ste.phens.  Claimants appealed the take-nothing judgment to the District Court.  The District Court initially reversed the Bankruptcy Court order.  VHH filed a motion to reconsider with the District Court, which is pending.  In the bankruptcy case, the Firm is assisting Mr. Ste.phens in formulating a Plan of Reorganization that is expected to pay allowed creditor claims in full.

Berryman Products, Inc.
Formulated and confirmed a plan of reorganization for 107-year-old automotive chemical enhancement distributor after reversing a multimillion-dollar jury verdict in California and successfully defeating numerous objections and appeals by a recalcitrant creditor and paying all claims in full and retaining equity for shareholders.

Forest Park Medical Center at Fort Worth, LLC
Represented a hospital in the confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan by assisting in the sale of real estate for more than $120 million while carving out a significant recovery for creditors and settling all claims against the hospital’s investors.

Jack County Hospital District d/b/a Faith Community Health System
Represented the hospital district as debtor’s counsel in its Chapter 9 bankruptcy case, allowing the district to take full advantage of pandemic-related financial relief, including . Paycheck Protection Program loans that allowed for desperately needed funding during the most challenging period of the pandemic. Ultimately, the district confirmed a Plan of Adjustment providing for a restructuring of roughly $92 million in debt, thereby allowing the district’s facilities to continue delivering healthcare services to an underserved region.

Mid-American Indemnity Insurance Company
Represented the Foreign Representative of a Fort Worth-based Cayman Islands insurance company in the first foreign proceeding under Section 304. As counsel for the representative the firm obtained approval for a scheme of arrangement by both the Bankruptcy Court and the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands and brought a successful multimillion-dollar fraudulent transaction lawsuit against other individuals and corporations.

Creditor Committee Representations

Chesapeake Energy Corporation
Represented the Official Committee of Royalty Owners in the Chesapeake Energy Corp Bankruptcy. The appointment of the committee to represent an estimated 200,000 royalty owners was the first in the history of complex oil and gas bankruptcies. Chesapeake filed an emergency motion to disband the committee days after its formation and was denied. With input from the committee each revision of the Plan of Reorganization provided enhanced rights and reservations for the royalty owners, balancing the group’s rights to pursue pre-petition claims while also supporting Chesapeake’s continued operations and revenue streams versus liquidation. Based on these efforts the plan was confirmed with a commitment from Chesapeake’s CEO to treat “all of Chesapeake’s stakeholders with transparency.”

Willbanks Ste.el, Inc.
Represented the Official Unsecured Creditors’ Committee in the case of a steel company that filed for bankruptcy shortly after a failed leveraged buy-out. The committee reached a significant settlement with the lender and the principals for the benefit of the unsecured creditors after alleging a fraudulent transfer resulting from the leveraged buyout.

First Mercantile Corporation
Represented the Official Unsecured Creditors’ Committee in the Chapter 11 case of a Wichita Falls, Texas lending institution. The committee defeated the debtor’s proposed Chapter 11 Plan and submitted a creditor plan that was confirmed by the court and ultimately resulted in a substantial distribution to unsecured creditors.

Creditor Representations

Renfro Foods, Inc.
Currently representing Renfro Foods, Inc. as the largest unsecured creditor in a Chapter 11 case pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court in the Western District of Texas.　 Renfro Foods is a family-owned, Texas-based products manufacturer specializing in Southwestern condiments, salsas, and other specialty condiments.

Tri-County Electric Corporation, Inc.
Represented Tri-County, a member of a large power cooperative, Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, Inc., which filed for bankruptcy because of losses tied to the Uri storm of February 2021. Brazos emerged as a scaled down company, allowing Tri-County flexibility and room for future growth. The firm’s attorneys played a critical role in replacing Brazos management and formulating a multi-party settlement, including an agreement with ERCOT that allowed Brazos to confirm its consensual bankruptcy plan in December 2022.

DeVries Family Farm, LLC
Represented DeVries Family Farm, LLC, the defendant in a preference and fraudulent transfer action pursued by a Chapter 7 trustee seeking more than $895,000. The case involved several legal issues pertaining to the nature of the trustee’s interest in the company. Following the entry of partial summary judgment the firm’s attorneys assisted the company in favorably settling the matter on terms that reflected the limitations on the Chapter 7 trustee’s rights.

Seattle City Employees’ Retirement System
Represented the defined benefit plan, advising SCERS of its rights as a secured creditor in connection with intellectual property owned by Platinum Intellectual Property, which filed bankruptcy in February 2009. Securing a default judgment, SCERS foreclosed on and sold the intellectual property, ensuring that patent rights were preserved to maximize the return to the plan’s participants.

Gunn Oil Group
Represented a group of creditors in the chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Crusader Energy Group, Inc., and its affiliates. Prior to the bankruptcy, the creditors sold to Crusader a 75% working interest in oil and gas leases covering a significant amount of acreage in four Texas counties. The creditors asserted claims against Crusader in the bankruptcy case of approximately $10 million.  Through innovative use of Texas law on equitable vendor liens, the creditors were able to reacquire the 75% working interest in the leases for a minimal cash payment and cancellation of the debt owed by Crusader to the creditors.

Other Representations

Court appointed receiver in Weslease 2018 Operating, LP v. Innovative Sand Solutions, LLC, et al.
In September 2024, a District Court Judge for the Northern District of Texas appointed VHH as Receiver for the investigation, liquidation and administration of assets owned by Innovative Sand Solutions, LLC, River North Farms, Inc., Hermitage Newark, LLC, and several other entities owned by a Texas couple to facilitate the payment of several judgments entered against them for the benefit of the plaintiff, Weslease 2018 Operating, LP.

Shannon Gracey (Workout Counsel)
Represented a storied Texas-based law firm, leading efforts to avoid a bankruptcy filing and negotiating resolutions with all of the firm’s creditors.

Representations in Asset Acquisitions

Hi-Way Equipment Company
Represented Associated Supply Company in its §363 purchase of assets valued at more than $50 million in the debtors’ bankruptcies.

Trustee Representations

Inspire Insurance Solutions, Inc.
Represented the Liquidating Trustee of the trust holding the assets of Inspire Insurance Solutions and Inspire Claims Management in connection with the claims resolution process and the wind-down of the trust. Through the claim’s objection process, including against the claims of IBM, Tokio Marine Management and Connecticut General Insurance Company, overall claims against the trust of $30 million were reduced to $2 million. The firm’s attorneys also handled a complex international litigation matter for the Liquidating Trustee against Sul America Companhia National Seguro’s, a large Brazilian insurance company, resulting in a favorable settlement of a $5.2 million claim against the trust, as well as the wind-up and termination of the debtors’ 401(k). After representing the unsecured creditors committee, members of the firm represented the liquidating trustee for the debtor’s estate.

Leather Center, Inc.
Members of the firm represented the trustee in this Chapter 7 liquidation of the largest leather furniture manufacturing company in the U.S.

Robert Yaquinto Jr. Chapter 11 Trustee for TAG Mobile, LLC
Represented the Chapter 11 Trustee for wireless service provider TAG Mobile in operational issues regarding TAG’s business and in working toward a sale  to maximize value for creditors.

Daniel J. Sherman, Chapter 7 Trustee for Adeptus Health, LLC and more than 60 related Chapter 7 debtors
Represented the Chapter 7 trustee in 62 jointly administered and substantively consolidated Chapter 7 cases for entities that provided emergency health care in hospital adjacent emergency rooms or free-standing emergency rooms in Texas, Colorado, and Arizona. Assisted the trustee with the liquidation of the debtors’ assets including real property, medical accounts receivable, and sales tax refunds. In addition, assisted the trustee in responding to patient medical records requests, transitioning to a long-term solution for storage of PHI and custodian of records issues, HIPAA issues, and other issues relevant to the health care industry.

Admissions

• Texas
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas  
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas  
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas

Board Certifications

• Business Bankruptcy by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and TBLS-Bankruptcy Law Exam Commission.

Education  

• Baylor Law School (J.D., 1979)
  • Cum Laude
  • Notes and Comments Editor and Symposium Editor of the Baylor Law Review, 1978-79.
• Baylor University (B.A., 1976)
  • Magna Cum Laude

• Preserving Claims in Chapter 11 Plans – State Bar of Texas: 30th Annual Advanced Business Bankruptcy Course, September 12, 2012 Presentation
• Bankruptcy Pitfalls in Civil Trials: A Litigator’s Guide to Bankruptcy – State Bar of Texas: Advanced Civil Trial Course 2010, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston, Texas.
• Cramdown Interest Rates in Chapter 11 – Tarrant County Bar Association/Fort Worth Young Lawyers, Fort Worth, Texas, April 20, 2009 Presentation.
• Accrual Rule vs. Payment Rule: Conflicting Interpretations of the Obligations of a Chapter 11 Debtor under 11 U.S.C. sec.365(d)(3) – Tarrant County Bankruptcy Bar Luncheon Presentation,  November 15, 2004.
• A Potpourri of Bankruptcy Issues: Administrative Claims, The Reading Exception, Preference Claims and Burdens of Proof – Tarrant County Bankruptcy Bar Luncheon Presentation, September 15, 2003.
• Insurance and Bankruptcy: It’s All Clear as Mud – A Basic Primer – Advanced Business Bankruptcy Course 2001, Dallas, Texas.
• Class Action Bankruptcy and Claims Issues Under 502(e) – Advanced Business Bankruptcy Course 2000, Houston, Texas.

• Lawdragon 500, Leading Litigators in America, “Bankruptcy Litigation,” 2026.
• BL Rankings, The Best Lawyers in America, “Best Lawyers,” 2018-2025.
• Chambers USA, America’s Leading Business Lawyers, “Band 3 Bankruptcy/Restructuring,” 2009-2024.