🧑⚖️Two Rulings, Two (mostly) wins for
$NWBO
The Case: Northwest Biotherapeutics, Inc v. Canaccord Genuity LLC, 1:22-cv-10185, (S.D.N.Y.)
The Docket:
courtlistener.com/docket/665…
Keep in mind these are discovery rulings. That being said, these were two important wins for
$NWBO in their spoofing lawsuit against seven of the largest market makers in the world.
✅May 19, 2026 Ruling
The 'I don't care to read the below quotes summary':
This ruling stops the Defendants from getting a sneak peak at
$NWBO's underlying analysis and protects Joshua Mitts from having to produce a burdensome document by document privilege log.
"...the Court hereby GRANTS the motion for a protective order to the extent indicated below."
"The Court is unpersuaded by Citadel’s argument that NWBO waived Rule 26(b)(4)(D) protections because statistical analyses prepared by Professor Mitts were incorporated into the Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”)."
"The Court also finds that a detailed privilege log is unwarranted to the extent the documents sought are protected by Rule 26(b)(4)(D)."
"Although the Court thus finds that Rule 26(b)(4)(D) shields Mitts from providing documents concerning his work as a non-testifying consulting expert, it is not clear that this relieves him of any obligation to comply with the subpoena."
"Citadel, however, states that it would be willing to accept a categorical privilege log, and the Court agrees that a categorical log, with information as to date range, general subject matter, and the privilege(s) asserted, would be appropriate."
✅May 20, 2026 Ruling
The tldr summary:
The Court is granting
$NWBO's request for a discovery continuance but they're annoyed at the slow pace of discovery so the Court is taking steps to speed things up.
"Having reviewed this letter, Defendants’ response (Dkt. No. 274), and the parties’ May 4, 2026 status report (Dkt. No. 270), the Court is not satisfied with the progress of discovery in this case. The original Scheduling Order, entered following the Initial Case Management Conference held on June 5, 2025, set a deadline for substantial completion of document production of August 29, 2025. (Dkt. No. 218 at 3). This date was mutually agreed to, and indeed proposed by, the parties. (Dkt. No. 205 at 7). Yet eleven months after the ICMC, and with the extended deadline for substantial completion of document discovery just two weeks away (Dkt. No. 254), Plaintiff writes that “the parties have yet to agree on search terms for either NWBO or Defendants.” (Dkt. No. 269 at 1 n.2; emphasis added). The Court does not understand how that could possibly be the case if the parties were working diligently, cooperatively, and in good faith to complete discovery in the allotted time. Nor does the Court understand how, after eleven months of discovery, so few documents have been produced in a case of this nature. To the extent there is any bona fide issue relating to search terms (the Court recognizes that Defendants say they understood that the search terms, at least for their own production, were already agreed to and that they produced documents based on that understanding, see Dkt. No. 274 at 2)), it must be resolved immediately. Similarly, any dispute as to Defendants’ production of trading data, described in the parties’ exchange of letters in November 2025 (see Dkt. No. 274 Exs. B and C), must be resolved immediately. The parties shall meet and confer and, by no later than next Friday, May 29, 2026, file a joint status letter that either (a) reports that these issues have been resolved (for both NWBO’s and Defendants’ productions) and provides a revised deadline for substantial completion of document production no later than July 31, 2026; or (b) states that the Court’s intervention is needed and provides each party’s position in no more than 3 pages for each side. To facilitate discussions regarding search terms, Plaintiff shall provide Defendants with string-by-string hit counts (and not just an aggregate hit count), or forfeit any ability to argue that Defendants’ proposed search terms are unduly burdensome. Pending receipt of the parties’ May 29 letter, the Court holds in abeyance NWBO’s request for an extension of discovery deadlines. SO ORDERED."