U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods of the Southern District of New York. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

A federal judge in Manhattan ruled Tuesday that he would allow discovery to go forward in a racial discrimination lawsuit against Davis Polk & Wardwell, even after the plaintiff, a former firm associate, missed a key discovery deadline by months.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods of the Southern District of New York also ordered that the lawyer for plaintiff Kaloma Cardwell, New York solo practitioner David Jeffries, pay to Davis Polk's counsel the attorney's fees associated with a Tuesday hearing about the discovery issue.

The hourlong hearing was held to determine whether the deadline for the plaintiff to serve discovery be extended after Cardwell and his attorney missed the March 2 deadline to file interrogatories and written document requests. Davis Polk, represented by attorneys from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, previously sought an order that would have waived Cardwell's ability to serve the firm with written discovery requests.

Cardwell first sued his former firm in November, alleging that the firm discriminated against him because he is Black. Among other allegations, Cardwell said that he was consistently left out of emails and conferences, frozen out of meaningful assignments, ignored by partners in his department—culminating in his termination in 2018.

In statements to the press and court filings, Davis Polk has vehemently denied the allegations.

Woods on Tuesday said that he found Cardwell's reasons for missing the deadline—which included difficulties arising from the coronavirus pandemic and the fact that Cardwell did not know about the deadline—"incredibly weak."

Yet, Woods decided to extend the deadline, a ruling the judge said was "generous" toward Cardwell. He later gave a stern warning that future missed deadlines would not be treated the same way.

"These are deadlines you can't miss," Woods said. "Treat them like deadlines. If you choose to not meet a deadline going forward don't expect that I will extend the deadlines."

Because it was the duty of Cardwell's counsel, not the plaintiff himself, to abide by the March 2 deadline, Woods added, Jeffries must pay the costs and attorney's fees associated with the extension hearing.

Woods ordered that Cardwell's discovery requests and the firm's application for fees be served by Aug. 11.

Woods asked counsel for both parties to offer a new deadline for discovery. Jeffries offered a November deadline, arguing that many of the documents that the plaintiff will be requesting were already produced in prior administrative proceedings.

Davis Polk's lawyer, Bruce Birenboim at Paul Weiss, pushed back and argued for a February 2021 deadline, adding that many of the anticipated discovery documents are emails between Davis Polk attorneys and clients, which have yet to be produced and which raise "very significant privilege considerations."

While the judge would not rule on the matter on the spot, Woods indicated that he is leaning toward Davis Polk's request.

"Unfortunately, this delay has been entirely plaintiff's fault. I've been, in my view, generous in extending these deadlines," Woods said. "Certainly, it should not be that the plaintiffs can put the defendants in a worse place."

Birenboim declined to comment on the case. Jeffries did not respond to a request for comment.

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