With no settlement in sight, Eugenie Bouchard's lawsuit vs. the USTA will remain a topic at the US Open

RIO DE JANEIRO – Whatever happens with the lawsuit Genie Bouchard filed against the U.S. Tennis Association in the wake of the concussion incident in the women’s locker room that is now nearly a full year in the rear-view mirror, it won’t happen before the Canadians returns to the scene of the incident in less than two weeks.

And that means the ongoing litigation will remain a topic of discussion that could prove a distraction as the 22-year-old attempts to match the fourth-round singles effort she put up before she had to withdraw from the event.

As slowly as the wheels of justice move, Bouchard’s schedule has thrown some wooden blocks into those wheels and her lawyers have asked for an extension on that basis.

The Morelli law firm, which represents Bouchard, has requested a 90-day extension of all remaining discovery deadlines in the case.

“The reason for this request is that Ms. Bouchard’s rigorous worldwide professional tennis schedule has made it incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to schedule her for necessary fact discovery appearances. Her tennis season ends in mid/late October, and she will be fully available at that time,” the document reads.

The motion was granted; the parties were scheduled for a telephone conference last Friday to discuss the length of the extension and the status of settlement talks.

Ten months later after the original filing, with all of this work still to do, there will has been no settlement so it’s hard to imagine that might be forthcoming at this point although that always remains a possibility at any time, especially in the leadup to this year's tournament.

The original “fact discovery deadline” was to be Sept. 30, with medical expert reports and disclosures from Bouchard’s side by Aug. 30 (the second day of this year’s US Open), and the from the defendants by Sept. 30.

Expert discovery was to have been completed by Jan. 16, 2017 and a report from both parties as to their settlement progress was to be filed by Feb. 29, 2017.

In other words, nothing much has happened with this since last December, when a motion for a protective order and confidentiality agreement was granted by the U.S. District Court, Brooklyn division.

Except that the lawyers are piling up the billable hours.

On the plus side, this may avoid Bouchard having to sit through long sessions in her lawyers’ offices while she’s in New York for the final Grand Slam tournament of the season.