Kirkland & Ellis is squaring off in bankruptcy court with a committee representing the junior secured noteholders in the reorganization of client Caesars Entertainment Operating Co., Bloomberg BNA reported yesterday. The committee has asked a judge to disqualify Kirkland, claiming the firm is conflicted because it has represented the casino company’s majority owners, Apollo Global Management LLC and TPG Capital, on unrelated matters. The committee is also claiming that the firm improperly received almost $10 million in fees on the eve of the company’s Jan. 15 bankruptcy. Kirkland had fought to keep the reorganization before Bankruptcy Judge A. Benjamin Goldgar in Chicago, where the law firm has its roots, while the junior noteholders wanted the bankruptcy to unfold in Wilmington, Delaware. Briefs were submitted yesterday, and Judge Goldgar has set a hearing for April 23.
