Burns Charest has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a former Dallas-based venture capitalist, Joseph Beard, against the firm Perot Jain, L.P. and firm founders Ross Perot, Jr. and Anurag Jain. The suit alleges that defendants refused to honor their obligations to Beard and fraudulently induced Beard into deferring lucrative payments he had earned while working with them. The case, filed February 5, 2026, is pending before the Honorable Bridgett N. Whitmore, District Judge of the 193rd District Court, Dallas County. A copy of the petition is available here.

Joseph Beard (pictured on the side) worked for Perot Jain from 2015 to 2020 and was responsible for managing Access Healthcare Services. When Beard departed Perot Jain, he was persuaded by Perot and Jain to exclude his Access Healthcare equity of 3% from his separation agreement based on promises from Perot and Jain that they would compensate him at the time of an expected future sale. In January 2025, the firm (and Perot and Jain) sold a significant stake in Access Healthcare for a reported $2 billion. Despite repeated efforts by Beard to recover the value of the equity he is owed, Perot and Jain have refused to honor the agreement.

“When people give their word, that should mean something. And we filed this case to hold them to their promises to Joe. Burns Charest is proud to represent Joe is his fight to recover what he earned and is owed,” said Managing Partner, Daniel Charest. In addition to Charest, Beard is represented by BC attorneys Hannah Crowe and Lawson Sadler.

In a recent Law360 article, Charest explained that Perot and Jain have not denied that they made promises to Beard to reimburse him. “He’s the one that made the value for them, and they don’t want to pay him his fair share,” Charest said. Similarly, in an article by Texas Lawyer, Charest commented that “[i]t was a bit surprising to us that they are taking the path they did” because Perot likely knew, before litigation was required, about the broken promise and, in Charest’s words, “that’s his honor at stake, and I’m just surprised that that’s OK with him.”

The lawsuit has also been covered by Law.com and The Texas Lawbook.

The case is styled Joseph Beard v. Henry Ross Perot Jr., et. al., No. DC-26-02043, in the 193rd District Court, Dallas County, Texas.