Nortel Networks (fka NRTLQ)

[ernie44]

big multi-country court case comming up

Creditors of Nortel, once a telecoms giant with a $250 billion market value and 93,000 employees, cannot be paid until the estates in Canada, the United States and Europe know how much money they will have to distribute.

Kevin Gross, a bankruptcy judge in Wilmington, and Ontario Superior Court Justice Geoffrey Morawetz in Toronto have scheduled a joint trial for next year to decide the dispute. The two have been holding joint hearings linked by video since Nortel sought creditor protection four years ago.

An administrator for the European estates has said the unusual trial arrangement would lead to "chaos" in part because there is no appeals court that binds both courts.

The European estates also wanted the appeals court to weigh in on whether the joint trial was appropriate, but Fuentes said that challenge should be taken after the trial.

The case is In re Nortel Networks Inc, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, No. 13-2739. The bankruptcy case is In re Nortel Networks Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, No. 09-10138