A state judge in Manhattan has allowed Ginarte Gallardo Gonzalez & Winograd to seek discovery from two firms that allegedly paid two women to stake out a pain clinic waiting room and convince Ginarte clients to switch lawyers.

In an order filed Dec. 19, Justice James D'Auguste rejected a request by the firm William Schwitzer to stay discovery while its appeal of one of his previous decisions advances. The Schwitzer firm, several of its lawyers and solo practitioner Rene Garcia and his firm have been accused of working with a pair of "runners" to smear the Ginarte firm and bribe its clients into switching firms. The Ginarte firm is based in Newark, though the the conduct at issue is alleged to have occurred in New York.

The judge also ordered the Schwitzer and Garcia firms to keep fees they earn in the allegedly stolen cases in an escrow account, such as an IOLA account, while the dispute advances. The two groups of defendants, however, already said in previous court filings that they were committed to putting the fees of any matters where there is a dispute into escrow.

The Schwitzer defendants, represented by Randy Mastro and Nancy Hart of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and the Garcia defendants, represented by Georgia Winston and Jim Walden of Walden Macht & Haran, have both filed notices of appeal of the dismissal decision and have sought to reargue their motions. Their clients have denied wrongdoing.

In a statement Clifford Robert of Robert & Robert, who represents the Ginarte firm, praised the decisions and said they were "significant victories" for Joseph Ginarte, one of Ginarte Gallardo's name partners.

"The defendants' desperate attempt to shut down discovery has failed once again," Robert said in a statement. "Mr. Ginarte is also extremely pleased that the court directed the defendants to place the disputed legal fees in escrow."

Oral argument and a preliminary conference in the case are set for March.