Free Response - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:94-cv-00366-JFM

Document 266

Filed 06/12/2008

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS CUMBERLAND CASUALTY & SURETY COMPANY, Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 94-366C (Judge Merow)

DEFENDANT'S RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFF'S STATUS REPORT Pursuant to this Court's June 4, 2008 order, defendant respectfully files this response to the June 11, 2008 status report filed by plaintiff, Cumberland Casualty & Surety Company (Cumberland). In its June 11, 2008 status report, Cumberland asserts that it has conferred with the Florida receiver of Cumberland, and that the automatic stay does not apply. What Cumberland fails to address is exactly when Cumberland, and its attorneys, first learned from the receiver that the automatic stay did not apply to this case. As this Court is aware, on March 11, 2004, Cumberland filed a Motion to Extend Deadlines based upon the allegation that Cumberland's counsel was investigating whether the automatic stay provided for under Florida law applied to this action. Cumberland has filed essentially the same motion every few months for over four years. As recently as June 2, 2008, Cumberland alleged in its "Motion For Extension Of Time To Discovery Deadlines Set Forth In March 24, 2008 Order" that plaintiff's counsel was "currently investigating whether the automatic stay . . . is applicable to the instant action." Cumberland also asserts in its Status Report that "the parties have continued to file motions for extensions of the discovery deadlines so that the parties could proceed with

Case 1:94-cv-00366-JFM

Document 266

Filed 06/12/2008

Page 2 of 2

settlement discussions." This statement is patently false. The numerous motions to extend the discovery deadlines have been filed by Cumberland, not by the Government, and the basis for Cumberland's requests has always been the purported need to "investigate" whether the automatic stay was applicable to this action, not that the parties were engaging in settlement negotiations. . Respectfully submitted, GREGORY G. KATSAS Acting Assistant Attorney General JEANNE E. DAVIDSON Director s/ Bryant G. Snee BRYANT G. SNEE Deputy Director s/ Leslie Cayer Ohta LESLIE CAYER OHTA Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit, 8th Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20530 (202) 307-0252 (202) 307-0972 (Fax) Dated: June 12, 2008 Attorneys for Defendant

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