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

Case 1:03-cv-00288-EJD

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Filed 04/07/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS CHEVRON, U.S.A., INC, TEXACO, INC, and TEXACO DOWNSTREAM LLC, Plaintiffs, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 03-288C (Chief Judge Damich)

DEFENDANT'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME Pursuant to RCFC 6(b), defendant respectfully requests an enlargement of three days, from April 10, 2006, to and including April 13, 2006, within which to file its motion for summary judgment and its proposed findings of fact. This is our first enlargement for this purpose. Plaintiffs' counsel has informed us that plaintiffs do not oppose this request. Since receiving the Court's scheduling order, defendant has been diligently working on this case and others associated with it. Thus, we have a draft of our motion and proposed findings. However, because, unlike many of the other cases before this Court that concern the Government's jet fuel contracts ("jet-fuel litigation"), this case has not previously been briefed and, therefore, the affected agency is assembling an appendix for the first time. In this case, the record from which the appendix is being assembled is an extensive one, dating back to contracts awarded in 1981. That effort involves at least one attorney and a contracting officer. However, since receipt of the Court's order, they also have been required to devote a substantial portion of their time to assisting defendant's counsel in connection with our motion for summary judgment and associated filings in other cases in the jet fuel litigation, including: Calcasieu v. United States, No. 02-1219C, Conoco v. United States, No. 02-1367C; La Gloria v. United States, No.

Case 1:03-cv-00288-EJD

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02-465C; Tesoro v. United States, No. 02-704C; and Valero v. United States, No. 03-1916C. Nonetheless, defendant's counsel expected that the appendix would be assembled in time. Today, he has concluded it will not be and determined to seek additional time. We require another three days to complete the assembly and review of the appendix, finalize our brief and proposed findings, and perform supervisory review. During that same time, defendant's counsel also must conclude an expert solicitation, which includes interviewing the experts, coordinating the selection with the affected agency, preparing a detailed memorandum recommending the selection, obtaining a budget, and negotiating a contract, in Phylway v. United States, No. 05215C. Concluding this matter already has been delayed due to defendant's counsel virtually exclusive devotion of his time to this and other cases comprising the jet-fuel litigation. However, delaying this matter any longer affects our ability to meet our agreement to have the experts meet in that case in an effort to resolve that case and, barring that, conclude the necessary discovery. Discovery in that matter is presently scheduled to conclude on April 28, 2006. Defendant's counsel also must prepare a reply mediation statement this week, in VT Halter v. United States, No. 05-369C. Providing that statement already has been delayed and delaying it further delays the parties' interest settling this case. The parties had tentatively agreed to meet in mid-April, another date that has been delayed, in part due to the fact that defendant's counsel's has been required to devote the majority of his time to the jet-fuel litigation. For these reasons, defendant respectfully requests an enlargement of time of three days, from April 10, 2006, to and including April 13, 2006, within which to file its motion for

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Case 1:03-cv-00288-EJD

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summary judgment and its proposed findings of fact. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General

s/ David M. Cohen DAVID M. COHEN Director

OF COUNSEL: DONALD S. TRACY Trial Attorney Defense Supply Center Richmond Richmond, VA 23297

HOWARD M. KAUFER Assistant Counsel Office of Counsel Defense Energy Support Center Ft. Belvoir, VA

s/ Steven J. Gillingham STEVEN J. GILLINGHAM Assistant Director Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Attn: Classification Unit 1100 L Street, N.W., 8th Floor Department of Justice Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: (202) 616-2311 Fax: (202) 353-7988

Attorneys for Defendant April 7, 2006

Case 1:03-cv-00288-EJD

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on April 7, 2006, a copy of the foregoing document 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/ Steven J. Gillingham