Junior bondholders in the Caesars Entertainment casino bankruptcy accused restructuring attorneys of allegedly misleading a judge and said that they should be disqualified from handling parts of the case, Reuters reported yesterday. The allegation adds to the bitterness of the $18 billion bankruptcy, which has pitted the private-equity owners of Caesars Entertainment Corp. against the junior creditors of the company's operating unit. In a Wednesday court filing, junior creditors said that they had unearthed evidence that they said showed that attorneys with Kirkland & Ellis, which represents the bankrupt operating unit CEOC, misled the court about potential conflicts. The junior creditors are represented by a team of lawyers from Jones Day, and they asked Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar to address the matter at a hearing on Nov. 18. Judge Goldgar has already approved the hiring of Kirkland over a previous objection by junior creditors. Goldgar could decline to revisit the issue, or consider the request to disqualify some of Kirkland's retention.
