The bankruptcy administrator for JCPenney has sued Jackson Walker, seeking the disgorgement of more than $1.1 million in legal fees for work the firm did on the retailer's bankruptcy, because the Dallas-founded firm failed to disclose that a partner was involved in a romantic relationship with the judge presiding over the bankruptcy.

The administrator asserts in the complaint filed on Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas that Jackson Walker failed to inform JCPenney "at any time" about the relationship between Elizabeth Freeman, at the time a partner in Jackson Walker, and former Judge David Jones. The administrator alleges that instead of making the necessary disclosures, it "consciously and deliberately made the economic decision to breach its duties" to JCPenney and its affiliates, and all fees paid to Jackson Walker should be disgorged.