In the ongoing saga over Oracle’s lawsuit against Google, the district court has allowed Oracle’s damage expert another chance to fix its damage report. The district court had previously stricken Oracle’s damage expert report on two previous occasions but allowed Oracle’s damage expert a third chance.
Before addressing the damage expert report issue, the district court rejected Oracle’s suggestion of a piecemeal approach to the trial due to the court’s docket. “The docket simply does not permit that luxury. Counsel are unfortunate in having drawn a judge assigned to the massive MS-13 gang prosecution, which has resulted in four lengthy trials, including one underway now, without any relief from the remainder of his normal caseload. This has led to a backlog of trial-ready cases waiting their turn. . . . In the instant case, the damages methodology must be sorted out before the case will even be trial-ready. Until then, there is no point in setting a firm trial date. If matters go smoothly herein and if other trial settings fall away, the instant case could still possibly be tried starting mid-April and all counsel and witnesses should reserve for that possibility, failing which it will likely occur sometime during the last four months of the year. This order, however, gives no assurances as to when the case can be tried. If Oracle wishes to voluntarily dismiss any damages claim it will have to do so with prejudice; otherwise a dismissal is nothing more than an invitation to piecemeal litigation.”
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