In a closely watched bankruptcy case, plaintiffs suing over allegedly defective combat earplugs told an appeals court to affirm a judge’s decision that allows them to move forward on trials against 3M.

Wednesday’s brief, before the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Seventh Circuit, sought to affirm Chief Bankruptcy Judge Jeffrey Graham’s Aug. 26 decision not to extend the automatic stay in Aearo Technologies’ Chapter 11 case to include cases against 3M, its parent corporation.