Three female former Jones Day associates need to be more specific about the information they need from the firm before a Washington, D.C., federal judge is willing to delay a ruling on the merits of their class action claims that the firm systematically underpaid its female lawyers.

At a telephonic status conference on Monday, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss raised concerns that an attorney for the plaintiffs was asking for “thousands of hours of discovery,” or more than one sees in ”30 cases combined.” But he gave them the opportunity to come back with a more focused request on which Jones Day leaders they needed to depose.