News of Nelson Bunker Hunt’s death this week led to memories of the early days Russell Munsch lawyered for him. A partner and former chairman and chief executive officer of Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, Munsch represented the legendary oil man and the most famously similarly idiosyncratic son of the East Texan H.L. Hunt during the younger Hunt’s personal bankruptcy in the late 1980s. With more than $2 billion in disputed creditor claims, the bankruptcy ranks as the largest personal Chapter 11 filing in history.
“It was a career-shaping event. I always was grateful for the confidence he showed in me,” recalled Munsch. At the time he was hired by Hunt, Munsch represented a company that was a division of Halliburton in a dispute with a Hunt-owned oil company. “I was on the other side of them and being very persistent on the side of my case,” Munsch said. But when he met Hunt, the oilman told Munsch he wanted him to represent him in the bankruptcy. Munsch raised the possibility of Halliburton objecting. Hunt’s people told Munsch that he had already asked and gotten Halliburton’s permission for him to do the work.
