DETROIT, MI -- After more than a year of tense negotiations, painful compromises, tedious court proceedings and costly legal bills, Detroit's bankruptcy case appears to be approaching its final stages.

A plan for getting the city out of a crippling level of debt has been crafted, creditors have voted on it and an end to the ordeal is in sight.

Here's a simple look at what comes next, and how the case may come to a merciful close:

The trial

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes has set aside 28 days for a confirmation hearing on the city's debt adjustment plan to take place between Aug. 14 and Sept. 23.

(Update: Rhodes has postponed the start of trial to Sept. 2. Hearings are scheduled to continue into October)

The total amount of debt owed by Detroit to tens of thousands of people and entities is estimated at $18 billion.

An army of lawyers, consultants and mediators have spent the last year crafting a plan that would reduce that debt by $7 billion, allowing Detroit to finally reinvest in city services that have declined over the years in large part because of crippling debt service obligations.

Rhodes will decide whether the plan is feasible, fair, equitable and in the best interest of creditors.

What are the odds?

"It's not a slam dunk, but I think the analysis is certainly in favor of the city," said Laura Bartell, a bankruptcy expert from Wayne State University's law school.

She pointed to a report from Rhodes' hand-picked expert witness Marti Kopacz, a restructuring analyst who found Detroit's turnaround plan feasible, if difficult to implement considering the city's antiquated computer systems and other government deficiencies.

Overcoming an argument -- sure to come during the trial -- that the plan treats some creditors better than others, could be more difficult to prove than feasibility, Bartell said.

Who is the city up against?

Over most of the past year, it was Detroit's lawyers vs. labor and retiree groups, battling it out over cuts to pensions and health benefits.

But not anymore.

Now they're all on the same side when it comes to Detroit's debt adjustment plan.

That's because retirees and employees agreed, by a large margin in a vote that lasted two months, to accept the cuts.

Retired cops and firefighters agreed to take smaller annual pension increases. Retired general employees agreed to give up increases entirely in addition to a 4.5-percent cut to their monthly pension checks. And some could lose up to 20 percent of their checks to pay back some of the money they made if they invested in annuity funds that were overly generous and too costly for the city.

Accepting those losses wasn't easy for people who spent years paying into a system they thought would someday pay them back.

But the losses were far easier to swallow than the 30 percent that was being threatened if they continued to fight.

The shallower cuts were made possible by $466 million in private donations and $194.8 million contributed by the state toward Detroit's pensions.

Those funds were pledged in exchange for pensioners dropping their challenges and agreeing not pursuing the sale of the Detroit Institute of Arts collection.

But others will.

Syncora

With most of the retirees and city employees hanging up their protest signs, bond insurers like Syncora Guarantee Inc. are left the most outspoken opponents of Detroit's plan.

Syncora has a $400-million claim in the case, a debt that stemmed in the first place from efforts to pay the city's pension debt.

The bond insurer fears it could get as little as 6 cents on the dollar under the city's plan of adjustment, and its lawyers will fight it tooth and nail.

Do they have a chance?

Syncora plans to argue for a piece of the funds donated to the pensions, and for continued discussion of selling city assets like the DIA collection.

They aren't likely to get anywhere with Rhodes that way, said Bartell.

"I wouldn't want to be in Syncora's shoes making that argument," she said.

"The stronger argument is discrimination."

Bond debt being slashed to as little as 6 percent while retirees get the bulk of their pension checks could be described as discriminatory, and will be during the trial by lawyers for creditors including Syncora.

Meanwhile...

Meanwhile, Syncora's got a few peripheral attacks in the works.

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati plans to hear arguments July 30 on an appeal of Rhodes finding that the city was eligible for bankruptcy, and an appeal from Syncora related to Detroit's casino revenues.

The city in 2009 offered casino revenue as collateral in a series of borrowing deals made to help meet pension obligations, and Syncora, since Detroit stopped making debt service payments before filing bankruptcy in the summer 2013, has been seeking to tie up those funds.

"If they got a win on the casino revenues, that could throw a wrench into the process," said Bartell.

Appeals

The city is hoping for a plan confirmation and an exit from bankruptcy court this fall, but even if Rhodes gives the OK, appeals could follow.

Bartell said that if creditors appeal an approval and want the plan put on hold, the courts could require them to post bond protecting the city from damages that would result from delayed implementation.

"Those damages are going to be a whopping big number," Bartell said.

And if a delay isn't granted, "the city goes ahead and consummates a plan," she said.

"Barring something getting thrown into the mix from appeal or something, this is really barreling down the tracks."

The Orr factor

Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, who took over city government by state order last year, entered Detroit into bankruptcy and guided the process, can be kicked out of office in September.

The state's financial emergency law gives city councils the right to oust state-appointed managers after 18 months in office.

Orr has asked for a few extra weeks in office, but it will be up to the council whether to allow the un-elected architect of the bankruptcy to see the process through to the end.

View full, ongoing coverage of Detroit's bankruptcy case here.

Follow MLive Detroit reporter Khalil AlHajal on Twitter @DetroitKhalil or on Facebook at Detroit Khalil. He can be reached at kalhajal@mlive.com or 313-643-0527.