Bankruptcy Judge Pushed to Limit in Tribune Case

By Andrew Gauthier 

Chicago Tribune

The judge in Tribune Co.’s nearly 2-year-old bankruptcy case struggled openly at a key hearing Monday as he attempted to referee what one participant described as a “four-ring circus” and another called “total chaos.”

Faced with a proceeding that has splintered into four competing restructuring plans brought by sparring creditor factions, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey acknowledged that moving the complex case forward efficiently is taxing the powers of the bench.

Advertisement

“It’s an unwanted meeting with my own limitations,” he said at one particularly frustrating juncture during a seven-hour hearing in a bankruptcy courtroom filled to capacity with lawyers representing constituents in the Chicago-based media company’s Chapter 11 case. More…

Advertisement