From the Chair continued from page 3
for a 12 year old young man , I ’ ll call him YC . YC was forgotten and left behind in the bankruptcy of his father . YC ’ s father is Chris Pettit , a lawyer in San Antonio who was accused by many of his clients of stealing over $ 200 million of client trust funds . In response to claims and lawsuits , Mr . Pettit filed Chapter 11 in San Antonio , Texas for himself and his law firm . Mr . Pettit quickly found out that bankruptcy was not the panacea he was looking for . Within a few weeks , Judge Craig Gargotta appointed Eric Terry , a bankruptcy lawyer in San Antonio , as the Chapter 11 Trustee .
Once appointed , the Chapter 11 Trustee proceeded to recover and liquidate Mr . Pettit ’ s assets . In the meantime , the United States Justice Department commenced criminal proceedings against Mr . Pettit for numerous crimes . Eventually Mr . Pettit plead guilty and was sentenced to fifty ( 50 ) years in a federal penitentiary where he resides today .
Prior to his bankruptcy , Mr . Pettit lived a fairly lavish lifestyle . He was single and YC was his only child . YC has no other living relatives . When Mr . Pettit was arrested and his assets were seized by the Chapter 11 Trustee , YC was left in the care of Martha , his nanny since birth . YC moved from his home in an upscale San Antonio neighborhood to the Conservators ’ home . The Conservators ’ home is much more humble . Because of his situation and the loss of all of his assets to the Chapter 11 Trustee , Mr . Pettit was unable to continue paying the Conservators to care for YC . Eventually the Conservators went to state court in Bexar County , Texas to ask to be appointed Conservators for YC and seek child support for YC . The state court appointed the Conservators and ordered
$ 2,500 monthly in child support payments . The child support went unpaid .
Eventually the Conservators went to San Antonio Legal Aid Society (“ SALSA ”) to obtain assistance in collecting the child support . Mary accepted a referral from SALSA not knowing how it might be tied up in Mr . Pettit ’ s bankruptcy . Shortly thereafter is when I spoke to Mary , almost two ( 2 ) years after the Chapter 11 petitions were filed .
Once engaged , my Haynes and Boone Team (“ HB Team ”), myself , Kelli Norfleet , David Trausch , and Re ’ Necia Sherald developed a strategy to see what we could do to assist the Conservators and YC . We researched and developed theories and spent hundreds of hours chasing down a recovery for the Conservators and YC . We made demand upon the Trustee for the payment of the accrued and future child support obligations , the return of assets owned by YC but seized by the Trustee and the recovery of life insurance proceeds claimed by the Trustee . The Trustee rejected all of our claims . Instead of going to trial on our claims , we agreed to go to mediation with the Chapter 11 Trustee . Retired Bankruptcy Judge and College Fellow , Chris Mott of Austin agreed to mediate our disputes on a pro bono basis . A full day of mediation in San Antonio ensued . At around 8:00 p . m ., the Conservators and the Trustee reached a settlement that allowed for the immediate payment of a portion of current and future child support and an opportunity for future recoveries . While the amounts recovered may be small in the context of a complex Chapter 11 case , the recovery was life changing for the Conservators and YC . As a bonus , I and the HB Team had found the hidden gift of giving our time for pro bono clients . continued on page 21
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