Panel Formed for Carter Hawley’s Unsecured Creditors : Bankruptcy: The committee will negotiate for suppliers and bondholders owed money when the retailer filed for Chapter 11 protection.

A 13-member committee was formed Wednesday to represent unsecured creditors in the Carter Hawley Hale Stores bankruptcy case.

The panel will negotiate for suppliers and bondholders that were owed money by Carter Hawley when the retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection Feb. 11.

Under Chapter 11, a company is shielded from creditors’ lawsuits and continues operating while it works out a plan to solve its financial problems. Los Angeles-based Carter Hawley, parent of the Broadway-Southern California chain, is the biggest department store company in the West.

Members of the unsecured creditors committee were named at a meeting in downtown Los Angeles jammed with more than 250 creditors and bankruptcy lawyers and other specialists seeking to represent them.

Attorneys estimated that 15 to 30 law firms were vying for the job of serving as counsel to the unsecured creditors committee in what is one of the biggest bankruptcy cases ever in California.

The committee interviewed candidates for the job Wednesday and was expected to reach a decision by late today.

Named by Edward I. Gold, acting U.S. trustee, to the unsecured creditors committee were three bondholder groups and 10 merchandise and service suppliers.

The three bondholder groups, representing part of Carter Hawley’s $350 million in high-interest junk bond debt, are Franklin Group, Presidential Life and Allstate Insurance.

The merchandise suppliers named to the committee are apparel maker Liz Claiborne Inc., the household appliances firm Sunbeam and cosmetics makers Estee Lauder and Cosmair.

Service suppliers on the committee include the Los Angeles Times, advertising photographer Joe Carlson Studio, catalogue designer 3 Score and Citizens & Southern Corp., which finances apparel shipments to Carter Hawley stores.

Also, two major concessionaires at Carter Hawley stores--Belkeith Jewelry and Brown Group Retail, formerly known as Wohl Shoes--were named.

Carter Hawley Chairman Philip M. Hawley told suppliers at the meeting the bankruptcy financing that the company has begun receiving from Chemical Bank provides assurance that bills will be paid on time. Although many suppliers have resumed shipments to Carter Hawley, some major apparel firms and their lenders say they are waiting for more financial information from the company before making a decision.