Lawyers want more time for talks as interested parties scramble for a share of the $7.3 billion raised from liquidating fallen telecoms giant Nortel Networks.

A lawyer representing Nortel filed a letter with the US Third Circuit Court of appeals asking for an additional 30 days for settlement on sharing out the funds, said Reuters.

The complexity comes from how to divide the pot of cash between former Nortel units in Canada, UK, US and US bondholders.

In its heyday, Canada’s Nortel was one of the giants of the telecoms equipment market. At its peak in 2000, its market capitalisation was $260 billion, but its fall from grace was dramatic. It was declared bankrupt in 2009, and then was liquidated.

The argument now is how to divide the spoils from that liquidation, of which $4.5 billion comes from the sale of patents in 2011 to a consortium of tech giants made up of Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft and Sony. RIM (now BlackBerry), another Canadian giant whose fortunes have waned, was also part of the consortium.

However, financial analyst Diane Urquhart estimated legal fees of $1.9 billion have been incurred up to the start of 2016.

Last year, judges in the US and Canada ruled that most of the $7.3 billion should be shared out among the creditors of the Canadian parent and to its pensioners in the US. However, bondholders and the US unit are unable to accept that decision.