Free Motion for Extension of Time - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:00-cv-00697-JFM

Document 379

Filed 02/06/2008

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS WISCONSIN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 00-697C (Senior Judge Merow)

DEFENDANT'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME Pursuant to Rule 6(b) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims ("RCFC"), defendant, the United States, respectfully requests an enlargement of time of 28 days, to and including Friday, March 7, 2008, within which to file its post-trial brief. Our deadline for filing our brief is currently Friday, February 8, 2008. This is defendant's first request for an enlargement of time for this purpose. Counsel for plaintiff, Richard Oehler, has represented that plaintiff, Wisconsin Electric Power Company ("WEPCO"), does not oppose this motion but opposes any further enlargement. In the event that the Court grants the Government's motion for an enlargement, plaintiff requests a corresponding enlargement to and including April 25, 2008, within which to file its reply to the Government's post-trial brief. Plaintiff's reply is currently due on March 28, 2008. The requested enlargement is necessary because responding to plaintiff's proposed findings of fact, which is over 200 pages in length, has been more labor intensive and required more time than we had anticipated. Further, drafting our findings of fact, in light of all the evidence presented during the five-week trial of this matter, is also taking more time than we expected. Furthermore, because plaintiff's brief and proposed findings were filed the week before the holidays, after hours on December 21, 2007, the Government lost over a week of

Case 1:00-cv-00697-JFM

Document 379

Filed 02/06/2008

Page 2 of 4

preparation time due to previously scheduled vacation time. Finally, the attorneys working on these replies have had to devote substantial time during the reply period to the preparation for expert depositions in Energy Northwest v. United States, 04-0010 (Fed. Cl.), which are scheduled for the weeks of February 4 and 11, 2008. The requested enlargement will allow the Government and its attorneys sufficient time to reply fully and properly to plaintiff's post-trial pleadings. For the foregoing reasons, we respectfully request that the Court grant this motion for an enlargement of time. Respectfully submitted, JEFFREY S. BUCHOLTZ Acting Assistant Attorney General

JEANNE E. DAVIDSON Director

OF COUNSEL: JANE K. TAYLOR Office of the General Counsel U.S. Department of Energy 1000 Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20585

s/ Harold D. Lester, Jr. HAROLD D. LESTER, JR. Assistant Director

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Case 1:00-cv-00697-JFM

Document 379

Filed 02/06/2008

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ALAN LO RE Senior Trial Attorney STEPHEN FINN RUSSELL A. SHULTIS SONIA M. ORFIELD Trial Attorneys Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice

s/ Sharon A. Snyder SHARON A. SNYDER Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: (202) 305-9640 Fax: (202) 307-2503 Attorneys for Defendant

February 6, 2008

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Case 1:00-cv-00697-JFM

Document 379

Filed 02/06/2008

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that on February 6, 2008, a copy of this "DEFENDANT'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME" was filed electronically. I understand that notice of this filing will be sent to all parties by operation of the Court's electronic filing system. Parties may access this filing through the Court's system.

s/ Sharon A. Snyder