A lawsuit alleging a brutal and unconstitutional crackdown by Los Angeles police during protests this summer — potentially the largest and most expensive case of its kind in city history — is expected to take years to resolve, even if a settlement is reached along the way.

The discovery process, in which both sides solicit and collect evidence, is only just beginning. Thousands of records must be collected and dozens of stakeholders must be deposed, including Mayor Eric Garcetti and LAPD Chief Michel Moore but also individual protesters who suffered injuries, attorneys for both sides said in a joint report filed in U.S. District Court last month.

Presiding U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall has set a tentative date for a trial, but not for another year and a half — on April 26, 2022.

The city could agree to settle the lawsuit instead, making that schedule moot, but such a decision would almost certainly be followed by protracted negotiations over what is owed to those with claims against the city.

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