Courtroom brawl could put Billy Bob’s Texas on the auction block

The fight over control of Billy Bob’s Texas goes to court Tuesday in a barroom brawl that could lead to the sale of the world’s largest honky-tonk on the auction block.

Investor and Billy Bob’s manager Concho Minick, whom the majority of his partners tried to fire last month, on Monday asked the court to appoint a receiver to clear up differences among owners over how to best run the nightclub. If unsuccessful, Concho Minick wants the receiver to put the 127,000-square-foot watering hole and concert venue up for sale.

“Plaintiffs are confident and optimistic that, with the court’s and receiver’s help, Billy Bob’s can remain a fixture and featured attraction in the Stockyards for years to come,” the court filing states. Minick is joined in his lawsuit by other minority owners, including the prominent Murrin family.

The majority owners want state District Judge Michael Wallach to reject Concho Minick’s request that the court get involved in Billy Bob’s management. But, if necessary, they want the judge — not a receiver — to clear up any ambiguities in the operating agreement that led to the partners’ dispute. In a late court filing Monday, they also asked the judge to strike the latest pleading by Minick, filed shortly after midnight, and postpone the hearing.

“This is not a happy battle,” said Marshall Searcy, an attorney representing the majority owners, including the Hickman family. He rejected the notion that the legal brouhaha among family members and drinking buddies could lead to a last call at Billy Bob’s. Searcy believes selling the honky-tonk can, and should be, avoided.

“I’m hoping beyond hope that someone comes to the rationale and says (this lawsuit) doesn’t make any sense,” Searcy said.

Concho Minick’s attorneys did not return a phone call seeking comment Monday.

For 35 years, Billy Bob’s has been a fixture in the Stockyards. Its owners, many of them old friends since it opened in the 1980s, saw the bar go dark for a while only to reopen a few years later.

What spurred the current lawsuit were attempts by the majority owners to fire the younger Minick. That group includes Concho Minick’s father, Billy Minick, and Brad Hickman and his family, who are a major force behind a $175 million Stockyards redevelopment project. They’ve disagreed with Concho Minick’s plans for the bar.

For his part, Concho Minick and the Murrin family — including former Fort Worth City Councilman Steve Murrin — have voiced concerns about the Hickmans’ plans for the Stockyards. The Murrins and others opposed the younger Minick’s dismissal. In May, the judge blocked Concho Minick’s firing.

A court-ordered mediation session earlier this month failed to find a resolution to the dispute and in documents filed Monday both sides used fighting words to describe each other’s behavior.

The majority owners described Concho Minick and his backers as a “mercenary minority” who threaten to liquidate the majority group’s rights by auction unless they accede “to the endless rule of an entrenched (but unwanted) ‘at will’ employee,” court records state. They call Minick’s lawsuit a “grim power play.”

They also describe Concho Minick, who was paid $300,000 a year, as a “less-than-modest” employee who went so far as to “sack” his father, Billy Minick, and his stepmother, Pam, in the “hope of driving to the receiver’s harsh auctioning block,” court records state.

Concho Minick’s attorneys argue that, under his management, Billy Bob’s has “experienced explosive growth in revenue, income and international prestige,” and that in the past six years its earnings have “eclipsed” the previous 13 years, when his father was in control, according to court filings.

The younger Minick said Hickman began “grinding his ax” after he spoke his mind about his Stockyards project, something for which he was “sharply reprimanded,” court records show. In court documents, he also accuses the “Hickman Faction” of improperly transferring $2 million out of Billy Bob’s accounts to a separate entity involved in the Stockyards redevelopment. That money was later returned.

The majority owners are also accused of installing spyware on the company’s computers to “secretly” monitor emails, court documents state.

As a result, Concho Minick is seeking a temporary injunction to preserve the status quo in management, prevent his termination and make sure that every “major decision” receives unanimous approval of the membership, as dictated by a company agreement.

The minority owners also want the court to appoint a receiver to help the partners get beyond their “deadlock,” including whether Concho Minick should continue as manager. If not, then the receiver should “maximize the value” of Billy Bob’s by overseeing its sale, court records show.

This story was originally published June 26, 2017 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Courtroom brawl could put Billy Bob’s Texas on the auction block."