A federal judge in Manhattan ruled Tuesday that he would allow discovery to go forward in a racial discrimination lawsuit against Davis Polk & Wardwell, even after the plaintiff, a former firm associate, missed a key discovery deadline by months.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods of the Southern District of New York also ordered that the lawyer for plaintiff Kaloma Cardwell, New York solo practitioner David Jeffries, pay to Davis Polk’s counsel the attorney’s fees associated with a Tuesday hearing about the discovery issue.