A federal judge is allowing Morrison & Foerster to get some, but not all, the employment records the firm has requested from two international law firms that also employed two lawyers now suing Morrison & Foerster for alleged discrimination against pregnant women and mothers.

U.S. District Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the Northern District of California ruled Thursday that the firm could subpoena Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters for records that could bolster the firm's defense against claims that Morrison & Foerster discriminated against pregnant women and mothers when making decisions about hiring, work assignments and promotions.

However, the Northern District of California judge stopped short of granting the firm's request for the entire personnel files for Sherry William, who practiced at Freshfields prior to joining Morrison & Foerster's project finance group in Los Angeles, and Joshua Ashley Klayman, who has since gone on to head the U.S. fintech and blockchain and digital assets practices at Linklaters since leaving Morrison & Foerster's New York office.