The ongoing Caesars Entertainment bankruptcy debacle once again experienced a strange twist of events when the mediator overseeing the dispute between the company and its bondholders suddenly resigned. In a letter filed with the court, former federal judge Joseph J. Farnan Jr. stated he “… enjoyed working with the various constituencies involved in the effort of reorganizing the companies…” but due to recent events he was convinced that he would be unable to continue in the mediation process.

Neither the judge or Caesars were willing to give any further comment on the resignation, but Judge Farnan did add in his letter that his resignation was not intended to be a criticism to anyone in the case. He did however draw attention to what he considers an “atypical view” of mediation in this case, and stated he was disappointed the bankruptcy judge found issue with the recent progress reported by the parties involved.

The bankruptcy judge overseeing the Chapter 11 case stated he did not believe there were enough details about the discussions held during mediation, implying Judge Farnan was perhaps handling things inefficiently. Farnana stated “I believe the Court either misspoke or doesn’t understand how such disclosures would be viewed by participants and the markets.”

Farnan is an experienced mediator and has served in the role in some of the most notable bankruptcy cases in recent years. This included the recent issues with Major League Baseball that resulted in the Los Angeles Dodgers filing chapter 11. He is also currently the mediator in the $7.3 billion dollar bankruptcy case of Nortel Networks Corp.