Welcome to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy's Daily Briefing. It's Friday, December 12. In today's briefing, an unprecedented antitrust lawsuit over creditor cooperation deals has Kirkland & Ellis clients on both sides, creating new tensions for the firm. In court, a Texas judge rejected a proposed sale of nursing home chain Genesis Healthcare over its inclusion of insider releases.

Top law firm Kirkland & Ellis faces blowback over client’s credit-market cartel lawsuit. An antitrust lawsuit filed against some of the largest asset-management firms is stirring business tensions for Kirkland & Ellis, a law firm with clients on both sides of the legal battle, people familiar with the matter said.

Optimum, the telecommunications company formerly known as Altice USA, last month filed an antitrust lawsuit naming eight defendants, including Apollo Global Management and Ares Management, many of whom are Kirkland & Ellis clients. The complaint was filed on behalf of Optimum by law firm Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick, known for antitrust matters.

But some asset managers named as defendants have associated the lawsuit with Kirkland because the law firm advises Optimum on its creditor negotiations and financing transactions. Some defendants have since had discussions internally, among each other and with external advisers about curbing their use of Kirkland for certain legal work, people familiar with the matter said.

Genesis insider sale rejected. A judge ordered Genesis Healthcare to reopen bidding for its nursing-home business, saying she likely can’t sign off on the company’s choice of a buyer tied to insider Joel Landau after rival bidders and creditors alleged the sale process was stacked in his favor.

Judge Stacey Jernigan of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas said she wouldn’t be able to sign off on liability releases for Genesis insiders, a key element of the proposed sale to a Landau-backed buyer that Genesis had picked as the winner at auction.

Pallas Partners lawyer tapped for New York bench. Pallas Partners’ Shireen A. Barday has been named U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York. Barday has worked as a partner at Pallas since 2023, joining after tenures at Gibson Dunn and Kirkland & Ellis.

Barday has recently represented a group of unsecured creditors in the restructuring of French residential care company Orpea Group. She has also represented Endo International's litigation trust in a multibillion dollar fraudulent conveyance action related to the acquisition of an opioid manufacturer before bankruptcy.

Barday will officially join the bench in early 2026. –Alicia McElhaney

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