DURHAM - Mike Nifong, disbarred for his misconduct in the Duke lacrosse case, told a lawyer for the exonerated players Friday that he disputes their civil claims of malicious prosecution even though he has listed the players as people to whom he might owe millions of dollars.

The encounter occurred during a 10-minute hearing in federal bankruptcy court.

The meeting, the first in a process that might not be resolved for several months, gave prospective creditors their first chance to ask Nifong questions about his finances.

Charles Davant, a lawyer representing Dave Evans and Collin Finnerty, two of the three exonerated players, asked Nifong about his insurance policies and assets.

Bankruptcy trustee Sara Conti asked about an Ashe County property that Nifong's wife, Cy Gurney, owns that he did not list as an asset. Nifong replied that Gurney owned the lot and house, but his name was on the mortgage.

Nifong also told the trustee that he forgot to list two vintage guitars as assets, instruments that he says are worth nearly $5,000.

When Nifong was asked about whether he might be getting any money in the coming months -- inheritance or tax refunds, for example. He replied that he had asked his elderly mother recently to take him out of her will and she had agreed to.

Lawyers for the exonerated players have said they plan to challenge Nifong's request for relief from a projected $180 million in debt.

Such a challenge, lawyers say, could move the exonerated players' allegations of "malicious" and "willful" injury into bankruptcy court.

Nifong filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in federal court on Jan. 15.

The legal maneuver put all civil actions against the disbarred lawyer on hold on the day Nifong was supposed to respond to the civil lawsuit brought by Evans, Finnerty and Reade Seligmann.

In their civil suit, the exonerated players allege a conspiracy by Nifong, the city of Durham, the DNA laboratory hired by Nifong and others to bring gang-rape allegations that were "a total fabrication."

Bankruptcy rules would not protect Nifong from financial claims if a judge finds that he willfully and maliciously prosecuted the players despite the gaping holes in his case.

Late last month, a federal judge ordered Nifong dropped from the civil suit until the resolution of the bankruptcy proceedings.

But James A. Beaty, the judge who entered the order, left open the possibility that Nifong could be added to the suit again.

In the bankruptcy petition filed in January, Nifong listed assets of $243,898 and potential debts of $180.3 million -- a projected $30 million each to Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann. Nifong also projected that he might owe $30 million each to three other players who were not charged but who filed civil claims late last year.

In his petition, Nifong listed the monthly income for him and his wife as $9,209.96 -- he makes $4,957.48 in pension and retirement income, and she makes $4,252.48.

Neither Nifong nor the lawyers representing the players would comment further after the hearing.