Camp Mystic’s owners have successfully moved a wrongful death lawsuit filed by six families from Texas state court to federal court, arguing the case is tied to the camp’s ongoing bankruptcy.
The move adds another layer of uncertainty to five lawsuits filed by families which accuse camp operators of failing to protect their children during last year’s catastrophic flooding in the Texas Hill Country.
In a notice filed Monday, the camp’s owners argued the lawsuit is connected to its ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and should therefore be handled in federal court. The case, originally filed in Travis County state court, centers on the deaths of six girls at Camp Mystic during the July 2025 flood.
They were among 25 campers and two counselors killed when floodwaters swept through the century-old summer camp for girls near Hunt. Camp owner and executive director Dick Eastland was also killed. More than 130 people died across the Texas Hill Country.
The camp’s filing came just two days before a status hearing on the case. Wednesday’s hearing was canceled after the case was moved to federal court, according to Kyle Findley, an attorney representing the six families. In a statement, Findley accused Camp Mystic’s owners of trying to keep the cases out of a public state courtroom.
“These families aren’t asking for anything extraordinary — they’re asking for a public trial, in Texas state court, in front of a jury as is their right in this country,” Findley said.
[…]
The lawsuits have been effectively halted since Camp Mystic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month. Chapter 11 typically allows a business to reorganize its finances under court supervision, though the camp’s managers are also considering selling off its assets.
The bankruptcy filing generally pauses lawsuits against a company while the case moves forward. A judge can modify or lift that stay under certain circumstances.
Angela Littwin, a bankruptcy law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, previously told The Texas Newsroom that cases like these are often resolved through the bankruptcy process instead of returning to separate courtrooms.
“The most common outcome of a bankruptcy like this is that the lawsuits would not pick up, that they would be settled in the bankruptcy,” Littwin said last month.
See here for the background. The Kerr County Lead adds some details.
Camp Mystic’s owners filed notice July 13 removing one of the five wrongful death lawsuits against them — representing the Getten, McCown, Pohl, Sheedy, Stevens and Toranzo families — from Travis County state court to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in Austin, citing the camp entities’ ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
The case, formerly Cause No. D-1-GN-25-009976 in the 459th District Court, is now Civil Action No. 1:26-cv-01919. According to the notice, it’s one of five lawsuits — collectively representing 22 sets of plaintiffs — being removed simultaneously by the debtor entities: Camp Mystic LLC, Natural Fountains Properties Inc. and Mystic Camps Family Partnership Ltd.
The filing argues the lawsuits belong in federal court because the debtor entities are named defendants and the claims against them “will have a substantial effect” on the bankruptcy estate, which is before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher M. López in Houston. The camp entities’ four related Chapter 11 cases — Camp Mystic LLC, Natural Fountains Properties, Mystic Camps Management and Mystic Camps Family Partnership — were jointly administered under Case No. 26-90621 following the June 24 bankruptcy filing.
The notice states the debtors intend to immediately file a motion to transfer venue for all five removed lawsuits to the Southern District of Texas — the district where the bankruptcy case is pending — arguing that under federal law, only that court has jurisdiction to decide where the underlying tort claims should ultimately be heard.
Camp Mystic had previously filed motions to move the cases from Travis to Kerr County, and to move the cases to be heard by an arbitrator. It’s not clear to me from the reporting I’ve seen, but I assume that the plaintiffs will have the opportunity to argue that the cases should remain where they were in state court. I’m way out of my depth here, so someone please correct me if I’m wrong on that. In any event, it seems like the bankruptcy case is what we’ll be hearing about for the foreseeable future. KXAN has more.
I’m just an Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, but if no judgement has been awarded the Plaintiffs as a result of him/her/them winning the pending lawsuit(s) against Camp Mystic, how could they be a Creditor owned money and tied to any Ch. 11. bankruptcy filings by the ‘defendant’ ? If these still-grieving families are not considered a Creditor at this time, then how can their unresolved suits be considered a debt pre-resolution ? This sounds like a play to keep the case from ending up in front of 12 jurors.
Bankruptcy resolves not only liquidated debts but claims as well.
I would be deeply surprised if the camp owners who couldn’t be bothered to put a warning system and evacuation plan in place would’ve somehow managed to have anywhere close to enough insurance to fully cover the claims here. So, it actually makes sense to move everything into bankruptcy court – that way the limited assets will be distributed pro rata instead of going to whoever manages to get a judgment first while leaving everyone else hanging in the breeze.
As for the other concern, bankruptcy courts do have jury trials – just not that many of them.