Former Weil Litigator Nominated as Caesars Bankruptcy Examiner

A former Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP litigator has emerged as a potential player in the drama surrounding the bankruptcy of Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s largest unit.

A U.S. trustee has asked a judge to approve the appointment of former Weil partner Richard Davis as examiner in Caesars Entertainment Operating Co.’s bankruptcy, according to a court filing Monday. Mr. Davis now has a private practice, having left Weil in 2012 following a 32-year career at the firm, including some years as its general counsel. Mr. Davis, 68, also served as an assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury from 1977 to 1981. In the early- to mid-1970s, he was on the Watergate special-prosecution force.

“He’s not the kind of litigator who bangs on the table and screams at people,” said John Jerome, of counsel at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, who has worked with Mr. Davis in the past but isn’t involved in the Caesars case. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get rattled.”

The appointment of an examiner to probe pre-bankruptcy dealings of Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. is among the more highly anticipated events in the casino operator’s restructuring. Examiners are authorized to conduct investigations on behalf of a trustee, which acts as the DOJ’s watchdog in a bankruptcy case.

CEOC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, seeking to slash its debt load and convert to a real estate investment trust that would be largely owned by creditors. Creditors have challenged asset sales and other transactions that took place before the filing, arguing such dealings moved prized collateral out of their reach.

A CEOC spokesman declined to comment on Mr. Davis’ nomination. Caesars has said creditors’ challenges are without merit and that the transactions, negotiated by independent directors and their advisers, benefited CEOC. Mr. Davis declined to comment.

The bankruptcy code enables the U.S. trustee overseeing a case to appoint an examiner when fraud and misconduct may have arisen. In recent years, examiners have also been used for more general fact-finding functions, bankruptcy lawyers say.

In late February, CEOC had asked for the appointment of an examiner, a move seen by some legal experts as unusual because such requests often come from government watchdogs or creditors, not debtors.

Earlier this month, a bankruptcy judge approved relatively wide-ranging power for an examiner to investigate any transactions or “apparent self-dealing or conflicts of interest” in the case.