Three days before U.S. and U.K. movie theater operator Cineworld announced 45,000 layoffs in October 2020, including 20,000 U.S. job cuts, the company engaged Kirkland & Ellis to assess financing alternatives and a potential restructuring. Cineworld paid Kirkland an advance retainer of $300,000 and made subsequent advance retainer payments that totaled $16.3 million by the time the world's second-biggest theater chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of Texas last month, according to Kirkland's employment application in federal bankruptcy court.