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Plaintiffs in a huge sex bias class-action case against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court will begin to unveil plans Friday for how they will try to resuscitate their lawsuits.

Lawyers for the women will argue in U.S. District Court in San Francisco that they should be able to press ahead with multiple, narrower class-action claims against the retailer.

Wal-Mart, however, wants to make sure any potential class actions are kept firmly in the grave.

Women who say the company denied them pay raises and promotions because of gender bias are regrouping after the Supreme Court dismantled a class of up to 1.5 million current and former Wal-Mart workers last month.

Had the class-action lawsuit gone forward, Wal-Mart could have been liable for billions of dollars in back pay and other damages. The court concluded that the group did not have enough in common to band together to sue the company.

Friday’s hearing marks the first time both sides have appeared in court following the landmark decision.

Since the case cannot move forward as one massive case, plaintiffs must reformulate claims into more tailored groups — or as individual lawsuits.

Joseph Sellers, a lead attorney for the plaintiffs and a partner at law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll in Washington, said plaintiffs will propose a smaller class-action lawsuit in California, and could bring similar cases elsewhere in the country. He declined to comment before the hearing on how many smaller class-action lawsuits there could be.

“There was this sense after the Supreme Court decision that the case was dead, and we dispute that,” Sellers said. “We think the decision leaves open the possibility of bringing more narrowly tailored class actions.”

Plaintiffs could carve up the larger group of current and former Wal-Mart workers according to different stores or regions, and different job descriptions and time frames of employment. It is unclear what Wal-Mart’s potential liabilities could be in this scenario if it loses the case.

Sellers said hundreds of attorneys have contacted his firm expressing interest in representing plaintiffs in revised litigation. His firm spent about $7 million on the original lawsuit against Wal-Mart that landed at the Supreme Court, and so far has not seen a return on its investment.

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