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Bankrupt law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf's plan to pay bonuses to its remaining employees has drawn objections from U.S. Trustee Tracy Hope Davis, who said that the plan might not be cost effective, Reuters reported yesterday. Davis said in court papers that the proposed plan did not provide enough information to determine if the cost of retaining employees was economically feasible. The law firm is seeking approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan to pay $450,000 to its 52 remaining employees who collect money and bill former clients. The trustee also said the plan could not be justified because the firm is no longer operating as a normal business.

Communications tech company FiberTower Corp . filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday with the hope of scaling back its operations and handing over ownership to bondholders who are owed a piece of its $527 million in debt, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. After losing business from wireless companies after aggressively growing its footprint, company executives placed the 57-worker company under chapter 11 protection, disclosing in court papers that the value of its business is less than the $132 million it owes a group of bondholders.

Sixteen months after Howrey dissolved, the firm's bankrupt estate has finally turned its attention to former partners and the firms that now employ them in hopes of raising revenue to help repay creditors, American Lawyer Daily reported today. In a court filing submitted on Monday, Howrey trustee Allan Diamond requested Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali's approval to subpoena 70 law firms for information related to how much work they received when they collectively hired at least 211 Howrey partners in the months before and after the firm's demise. The list of those being targeted includes several partners who launched their own practices, as well as those who were part of larger group moves to Baker Botts, Baker & Hostetler, Jones Day, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, Winston & Strawn, and other firms.

Mississippi power plant operator LSP Energy is asking the bankruptcy court for approval to sell its assets to South Mississippi Electric Power Association for $249 million, subject to higher offers, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. LSP is seeking permission to pay South Mississippi Electric Power a $7.5 million breakup fee if it's not the winning bidder. Rival bidders would have to offer at least $258.5 million to participate in the auction.

Bankruptcy Judge Charles Rendlen III yesterday confirmed a bankruptcy plan that would pay about $26.5 million to hundreds of thousands of customers and other creditors of US Fidelis, the Wentzville, Mo., company that once led the nation in the sale of vehicle-service contracts, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported today. Before it collapsed in late 2009, US Fidelis was accused of cheating hundreds of thousands of consumers by selling them vehicle protection coverage that was virtually worthless. Judge Rendlen said that the plan was a victory for creditors, including about 625,000 consumers who bought vehicle-protection plans from US Fidelis. Under the plan, about $14.1 million will go to a national, consumer-restitution fund that will be administered by state attorneys general.

Bankrupt aircraft maker Hawker Beechcraft Inc said that a bankruptcy court approved its plans to enter into exclusive talks with China's Superior Aviation Beijing Co. over a sale of the company for $1.79 billion, Reuters reported yesterday. Hawker Beechcraft, owned by Goldman Sachs and Onex Corp., said that the approval gives the company up to 45 days to negotiate the deal with Superior Aviation. Last week, Hawker Beechcraft said Superior Aviation would provide financial support to the company's jet operations over the next six weeks. Superior will pay $25 million before the end of the week, apart from paying a similar amount within the next 30 days, Hawker Beechcraft said. Superior Aviation said that it would work to keep jobs in the United States by expanding production in locations across America, including Kansas, Arkansas and Texas.

Bankruptcy Judge Shelley C. Chapman said yesterday that she plans to approve LightSquared's access to a $51.4 million bankruptcy loan from a group of the wireless-satellite company's lenders that will keep the company running through November 2013, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. Judge Chapman's approval of the debtor-in-possession financing would immediately release $30.6 million to LightSquared, although the company set a strict timetable as to how it plans to use the money. Last month, the company said that the loan would be only $30 million in total, but now it said that other cash it previously thought it could access was "not as easily available" as originally thought. Judge Chapman said that she would review the changes to the financing and most likely sign off on it by the end of the day.

Syms Corp. on Friday received a judge's approval to distribute its revamped chapter 11 plan to creditors for a vote, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin J. Carey said that he would sign off on the defunct discount retailer's disclosure statement. The company's plan is to reorganize around its valuable real estate assets, raise $25 million through a rights offering and repay most of its debts in full, thanks to a deal with creditors and equity holders of both Syms and subsidiary Filene's Basement LLC.

Kodak's top executives could be in line for big bonuses if creditors get some payback and if the company successfully emerges from bankruptcy or gets acquired, USA Today reported today. The printing and imaging company on Wednesday filed a motion in bankruptcy court seeking approval for as much as $17.6 million in bonuses for 15 executives. CEO Antonio Perez could receive up to $4.4 million if unsecured creditors get back all money they are owed. If they get back 30 cents on the dollar, which is Kodak's target, Perez would receive $2.2 million.

Dewey & LeBoeuf yesterday proposed a $104 million deal to recoup money from former partners who left the law firm as it teetered on collapse, Reuters reported yesterday. The proposed deal would cover clawback claims the estate has against hundreds of Dewey's former partners. The firm is seeking to clawback money paid out since the start of 2011. If partners accept the deal, it would provide the first big recovery for Dewey's creditors, who are owed $315 million stemming from the firm's bankruptcy filing in May.