(Bloomberg) -- The judge overseeing PG&E Corp.’s bankruptcy rejected an effort by dissident fire victims to upend voting on the California utility’s reorganization plan.

Judge Dennis Montali said during a hearing Friday that he planned to deny a motions asking to throw out votes on the company’s Chapter 11 plan cast by families and businesses who lost homes, property and loved ones in the blazes. PG&E shares climbed as much as 2.3%.

Some fire victims who want to change the payout deal claimed a lawyer representing the largest group of fire victims has a potential conflict of interest that has tainted the six-week voting process, scheduled to end Friday. The judge will consider the results of the creditor votes when deciding whether to approve PG&E’s plan to reorganize, which includes a $13.5 billion payment to about 80,000 residents and businesses harmed by Northern California wildfires.

Lawyers representing thousands of people who claims against PG&E have been lobbying their clients to vote in favor of the reorganization proposal.

A dissident group of victims, including a former member of the official fire victim’s committee that helped negotiate the $13.5 billion deal, asked the judge to throw out thousands of votes cast by clients of Watts, alleging he has a possible conflict because his law firm received a loan that was backed in part by two major PG&E investors.

Watts, who represents more than 16,000 victims, has disclosed that Centerbridge Partners LP, a PG&E shareholder, and Apollo Global Management Inc., a PG&E bondholder bought stakes in a $100 million line of credit provided in September to his law firm by Stifel Financial Corp.

Read More: Apollo, Centerbridge Backed PG&E, Funded Loan to Firm Suing It

The lawyer has said his loan was a general credit line to fund all of his firm’s cases and not just the PG&E litigation. Watts said there is no conflict of interest because Centerbridge and Apollo don’t have a right to control his litigation decisions and they have no right to a share of his legal fees from the PG&E case. Watts also has said he disclosed the financing arrangement during in-person and virtual meetings with his clients.

Watts said that representatives from Centerbridge and Apollo introduced him to the principal negotiators for PG&E bondholders and shareholders, who were battling for control over the power company through much of last year. Watts said Centerbridge and Apollo didn’t participate in the settlement talks.

Attorneys for fire victims including Watts ultimately reached a deal with PG&E and the company’s shareholders to set up the $13.5 billion trust that will be funded in half with stock and in half with cash.

Apollo said it has no ability under its financing arrangement to influence Watts’s decision-making for his clients. Centerbridge had declined to comment and representatives from Stifel didn’t respond to request for comment.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.