J. Stam

In proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, the court addressed scheduling issues for a complex multi‑party trial involving the allocation of assets among creditor groups.

The parties proposed deferring the trial from April 1, 2014 to April 28, 2014, but disagreement remained regarding whether the later date would be feasible.

The court concluded that maintaining the earlier date risked a chaotic trial and that a rolling start date would create further uncertainty.

To ensure certainty and orderly preparation, the court rescheduled the trial to begin May 12, 2014 for 20 days and set case management and trial management conferences.

The court also required all parties to provide comprehensive fee and disbursement summaries to monitor escalating litigation costs.

The Canadian Debtors brought a motion for approval of an Allocation Protocol to determine the allocation of approximately $9 billion in sale proceeds among the global Nortel entities.

The EMEA Debtors opposed the motion and brought a cross-motion to compel arbitration, arguing the parties had agreed to arbitrate under the Interim Funding and Settlement Agreement.

The court dismissed the cross-motion, finding the agreement was merely an unenforceable agreement to agree.

The court granted the Canadian Debtors' motion, holding it had discretionary authority under the CCAA to approve the Allocation Protocol and that the parties had irrevocably submitted to the jurisdiction of the Canadian and U.S. courts.