"Law and Order" court preps for Clear Channel trial

By Leslie Gevirtz

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The iconic New York State Supreme Court house, a popular backdrop for movies and television shows, was busy preparing for Monday's showdown over the $20 billion (10.2 billion pound) buyout of Clear Channel Communications

(CCU.N).

Technicians set up laptops, projection screens, monitors and audio equipment in the 71-year-old courtroom on Friday where Judge Helen Freedman is to hear the case between private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners THL.UL and Bain Capital and a syndicate of six banks.

One court officer said he had received more than 100 phone calls by noon on Friday asking about the trial.

The trial, in which the equity firms are accusing the banks of trying to get out of financing their purchase of Clear Channel for $39.20 a share, is expected to last five days, a court officer said.

Freedman, a judge since 1979 and author of New York Objections, a handbook on trial practice, has been known to rule from the bench, court officers said.

The private equity firms said they won over regulators and shareholders of Clear Channel, the largest radio and outdoor advertising company in the United States with significant international operations, on the basis of the financing the banks said they would provide, according to court papers.

Freedman tossed out three of the four claims against the banks -- Citigroup (C.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N), Credit Suisse Group (CSGN.VX), Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS.L), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) and Wachovia WB.N -- on Wednesday.