Conrad Black's appeal to overturn his fraud convictions will be heard by a panel of judges in Chicago next month.
A court document filed Wednesday orders defence and prosecution lawyers to make 20-minute arguments before the court in the case against Black and three of his former colleagues.
The arguments will be heard Sept. 29 by a panel of three appellate circuit judges led by Judge Richard Posner, who presided over Black's last appeal and took only 20 days to reach a decision.
The panel will decide how the case against the former Canadian media baron will proceed after the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the scope of the so-called "honest services fraud" theory, saying it should apply only to bribes or kickbacks, which were not accusations in Black's case.
The high court sent the case back to lower courts for review.
Lawyers from both sides submitted written arguments earlier this month on what should happen to Black's convictions in light of the new interpretation.
The defence contends that the interpretation of the honest services law was key to Black's conviction on three fraud charges, along with one count of obstruction of justice.
But the prosecution says it had not used the honest services arguments to convict Black in the 2007 case that centred on US$5.5 million in so-called "non-compete" payments involving the sale of newspaper assets of Hollinger International.
Black, the former chairman and chief executive of the Hollinger International media company, was convicted of siphoning money out of the company that were falsely characterized as non-compete payments from buyers of Hollinger assets.
The court will also hear arguments from lawyers for Black's co-defendants -- Peter Atkinson, John Boultbee and Mark Kipnis.
Atkinson and Boultbee, both Canadian executives of Hollinger, received two years and 27 months respectively. Chicago attorney Mark Kipnis, a former Hollinger employee, was placed on probation with six months of house arrest.
All four men were found not guilty on a majority of the fraud charges against them but convicted on others. Black was the only one charged with obstruction for removing boxes out of his Toronto office, contrary to an Ontario court order, making his sentence significantly lengthier than that of his three co-defendants.
Montreal-born Black, who was forced to renounce his Canadian citizenship in 2001 in order to accept an invitation to join the British House of Lords as Lord Black of Crossharbour, is currently free on bail after serving more than two years in a Florida prison.
Black recently dropped a request to return to Canada and will remain in the Unites States while the appeal that could bring a final resolution to his case goes ahead.
He is expected to return to a Chicago court Sept. 20 for a bail update.
