Elysium's new counsel sent a letter to Judge Liman with a sob story begging for a four-month delay of all deadlines. The Judge denied the request and said he would not even discuss it.
Here is Elysium's request:
Here is Judge Liman's order denying the request:
Elysium complained that the prior law firms in the case had not produced a single document nor noticed a single deposition, even though the deadlines for fact and expert discovery are looming. Elysium said that ChromaDex was willing to consent to a 30-day delay, but not four months. Said Elysium,
"Elysium would be severely prejudiced by having to review ChromaDex’s entire document production—not due to Elysium’s new counsel, but rather because ChromaDex has not produced any documents to date—and prepare for potentially dozens of depositions with only thirty additional days, not to mention engaging in expert discovery."
Judge Liman said "Tell it to the hand." That might be because the case is already 2.5 years old, or it might be because Judge McMahon already warned the parties that there would be no further delays.
But what's probably going on is not, as Elysium suggests, that the prior law firms had neglected discovery, but that there is no discovery necessary.
These unfair competition claims are fully substantiated by the attachments to the pleadings, which are the advertisements and marketing materials making the challenged claims. Moreover, all the materials already produced in California are available in New York. So it's not at all clear (to me) what more evidence needs to be produced.
Certainly that is the opinion of ChromaDex's attorneys, who have not requested any delay, even if they were willing to tolerate a one-month delay.
In any event, there will be no delay. According to Elysium's letter, the current deadlines in New York are as follows:
