Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) — The deadline for Tribune Co. and its creditors to file lawsuits over the company's 2007 buyout passed at midnight, marking the start of the next phase of the newspaper chain's $13 billion bankruptcy.

This week, the company and its creditors filed dozens of lawsuits in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, seeking to claw back payments to Tribune's suppliers, lenders and executives, including Chairman Sam Zell.

The players who were most likely to sue “have already filed,” creditors' lawyer David LeMay said in an interview yesterday.

Read the full Businessweek story, “Tribune Lawsuit Deadline Passes as Bankruptcy Plods On.”