The trial is expected to be rescheduled once the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rules on whether Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. can be forced to turn over documents it contends are trade secrets.
The Denver-based appellate court heard arguments in March, but by the time it rules, it will be too late to prepare for the 20-day trial previously set in the case, attorneys for Cooper Tire argued in U.S. District Court.
U.S. Magistrate Paul Warner cancelled the July 8 trial last week.
Cooper made the tires on the 15-passenger van, which rolled several times after the left rear tire blew as the agriculture students were headed back to campus from a field trip in northern Utah's Box Elder County.
Eight students and the instructor died in the Sept. 26, 2005, crash. Two students survived with severe injuries. The survivors and the families of all but the instructor and another student are plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit, filed a year after the accident.
The families this winter settled their claims against the maker of the van, Chrysler.
In a court filing, the families' attorneys mentioned that a nationally recognized mediator, Rodney Max, will meet with both sides July 9-10 to try to resolve the dispute.
That's the same mediator who helped the families settle their case against Chrysler.
