NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and brokerage Merrill Lynch agreed late Wednesday to again postpone a court date for scheduling testimony.

Spitzer has accused Merrill of serious conflicts of interest between its research and investment banking arms, with analysts giving more favorable ratings to companies that the firm does business with.

Both sides were scheduled to appear before Judge Martin Schoenfeld in New York State Supreme Court on Thursday morning to schedule testimony for former and current Merrill employees, as the case moved into its discovery phase. The court date has been moved to May 23.

Testimony from former analyst Henry Blodget and other members of his Internet analyst team was expected to be scheduled. Spitzer could also have decided to interview any of the brokerage's top executives.

In April Spitzer released e-mails from Blodget and other analyst in which they privately disparaged stocks that publicly received strong ratings. For example, one analyst called InfoSpace (INSP: Research, Estimates) a "piece of junk," although the stock received a top "buy" rating from the firm.

The court appearance was delayed due to "productive discussions," the same reason offered for last week's delay.

The attorney general has yet to file any charges, civil or criminal, against Merrill, but even if those never appear, more public testimony could be damaging to the brokerage.

Justin Hughes, analyst with Robertson Stephens, said further testimony could just add to the negative publicity Merrill is trying hard to avoid.

"When Spitzer released the e-mails a lot of people thought there would be no point in Merrill settling because all the negative (publicity) was out there already," he said. "Maybe Spitzer's saying he could make it worse (with more testimony)."