The bankruptcy of Caesars Entertainment Corp.'s debt-heavy subsidiary has racked up nearly $47 million in professional fees and expenses in about 4 1/2 months, The Associated Press reported today. The Associated Press reviewed billings from 18 law firms, financial advisers, consultants and the casino company's creditors between Jan. 15 and May 31, including one from a law firm that noted it cost $16,367 to prepare its own bill. Another firm's invoice includes billing for a paralegal who earned $133,490 in that time. And that's with discounts, in several cases. In filing for bankruptcy in mid-January, Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. has been trying to shed about $10 billion of its $18.4 billion in debt. But the complex case has already involved fights over picking a court, the timing of its filing, brokering a deal with different creditors and fending off litigation from some of them at the same time. The company is due in bankruptcy court today for what could be a pivotal ruling that would either halt lawsuits against the subsidiary's parent company, Caesars Entertainment Corp., or let the litigation proceed, potentially imperiling that company's finances, too.
