Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar agreed yesterday to delay a crucial hearing to review Caesars Entertainment Operating Co.’s chapter 11 plan until an independent examiner completes his probe into the casino operator's pre-bankruptcy transactions, Reuters reported yesterday. The decision comes after junior creditor groups and a U.S. Trustee asked the court to reject a request from Caesars, the bankrupt operating unit of Caesars Entertainment Corp., to hold the hearing in late January. Judge Goldgar said that he would not schedule a hearing to approve documents describing the bankruptcy plan, known as a disclosure statement, without knowing when examiner Richard Davis will deliver his report. At the same hearing, Judge Goldgar also said he would probably deny an unusual request by a group of creditors to prevent the Kirkland & Ellis law firm from continuing to represent Caesars. Junior bondholders, represented by Jones Day, allege that Kirkland and Ellis have a conflict of interest and they have accused its partner James Sprayregen of misleading the judge in a previous trial on the issue. Goldgar did permit Jones Day to perform a limited investigation of its allegations, but also said the request to remove Kirkland would probably be denied.
