Kirkland’s About-Face on Optimum Shows Credit Market’s Clout The law firm’s work for troubled borrowers has fueled tension with clients that have big corporate-credit businesses.

The Wall Street Journal interviewed Adam Farra regarding Kirkland & Ellis’s withdrawal from representing Optimum Communications. Optimum had sued Apollo Global Management, Ares Management and other asset managers, alleging they used a lender cooperation agreement to fix prices on Optimum’s debt and make its financing more expensive. The Journal described the suit as the first of its kind. Kirkland had been advising Optimum on creditor negotiations, though a different firm filed the antitrust complaint. According to the Journal, some defendants are also Kirkland clients and privately leveraged those business ties to press the firm to step back. Adam told the Journal that the episode shows Kirkland will choose whom to represent “based on where it thinks it has more money to be made.”

Read the full article: The Wall Street Journal