General Motors has asked the judge overseeing the GM ignition switch lawsuits to hold off on discovery, pending the progress on another GM lawsuit, related to its 2009 bankruptcy.

General Motors is currently facing GM lawsuits on several fronts. First and foremost, the iconic American automaker is facing mass legal action over alleged defects with the ignition switch in several of its vehicles that ultimately resulted in a GM recall. GM makes cars under several brand names, including Saturn, Pontiac, and Chevy, and thus a number of makes and models were involved in the GM recall.

According to the GM recall, the ignition switch could accidentally shift from the “on” position to the “auxiliary” (standby) position. In the auxiliary position, a car’s engine shuts off and the airbags deactivate. In modern cars, the onboard electronic systems can act as a sort of “black box,” recording certain information. In several cases, it has been discovered that the circuit switched into the auxiliary position seconds prior to fatal crashes.

Adding to the situation, intense scrutiny has suggested that General Motors may have been aware of the GM ignition switch defect for at least a decade before taking action.

Both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Senate committees have conducted outside investigations of the GM ignition defect, while GM hired internal investigators to audit the company’s awareness and response to the issue.

GM’s internal investigation revealed that individuals with the company were aware of the problem, but the GM ignition switch recalls were delayed for years by a “culture of incompetence” within the company.

One issue that has complicated the issue is the fact that today’s GM is in some ways a different GM from the one when the GM ignition switch defect was discovered.

In 2009, General Motors filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and the company was restructured into a new GM. In some matters, “modern” GM is not have liable for pre-bankruptcy GM. And this is where the potential stall tactic comes into play.

GM is currently facing legal action pertaining to their restructuring. GM has asked the judge overseeing the GM ignition switch lawsuits to hold off on discovery until the bankruptcy issues are resolved, arguing that the bankruptcy issues must be resolved first, otherwise the litigation over the GM ignition switch defect could get complicated by these separate rulings.

GM’s legal team has asked for this on three grounds. First, GM argues that it has already voluntarily provided hundreds of thousands of pages of documents related to the legal action. Second, GM argues that there is no way to limit the legal proceedings related to the GM ignition switch to ones that would not infringe on the bankruptcy court’s jurisdiction, causing potential legal conflicts that would have to be resolved down the line. And third, GM argues that the discovery in the GM ignition switch lawsuit could interfere with the proceedings in the bankruptcy court, and claims that even the bankruptcy court judge agrees with them.

The plaintiffs’ legal counsel is expected to file a response by Friday.

The GM Ignition Switch MDL is In Re: General Motors LLC Ignition Switch Litigation, Case No. 1:14-mc-02543, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.