Paul Hastings Obtains a Win for Pro Bono Client in Tehum Care Services Bankruptcy

Paul Hastings LLP secured a win for an incarcerated pro bono client, Hammel J. Clark-El, preserving his District of Maryland case alleging violations of his Eighth Amendment rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by individual prison healthcare professionals. Those rights were threatened in the unrelated Southern District of Texas Chapter 11 reorganization of the defendants’ former employer, Corizon Health, Inc. (Tehum Care Services, Inc. as successor-in-interest), In re Tehum Care Services, Inc.

During the pendency of the Tehum restructuring, and throughout the confirmation process of its Chapter 11 plan of reorganization, Clark-El received no actual notice of the proceedings or how the debtor’s Chapter 11 plan and its accompanying channeling injunction and third-party releases would surreptitiously enjoin his own pending lawsuit. The Paul Hastings team filed an objection to the debtor’s motion seeking to enjoin Clark-El and more than 100 other similarly situated plaintiffs from continuing to prosecute their claims and alleging adequate notice by publication. The parties presented oral arguments on July 2, 2025.

Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez, in a written decision and order entered August 7, 2025, rejected the debtor’s argument that constructive notice of consensual releases of claims between third parties (like the releases in the debtor’s Chapter 11 plan) was sufficient to inform Mr. Clark-El and other similarly situated plaintiffs of the impact the releases would have on their claims and that those plaintiffs, including Clark-El, are not bound by the consensual third-party releases in the debtor’s Chapter 11 plan. These plaintiffs, including Clark-El, are now free to continue prosecuting their claims.

Financial Restructuring partners Matt Warren and Lindsey Henrikson led the Paul Hastings team, which included associates Reed Rogan and Valerie Eliasen.

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