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

Case 1:08-cv-00079-EJD

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS PARSONS TRANSPORTATION GROUP, INC.,) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) ) THE UNITED STATES, ) ) Defendant. )

No. 08-79C (Chief Judge Damich)

DEFENDANT'S CONSENT MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME TO RESPOND TO PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT Defendant, the United States, respectfully requests that the Court grant an enlargement of time of 10 days, to and including Friday, April 18, 2008, within which to respond to plaintiff's complaint, which was filed on February 8, 2008. Although the

Court's PACER system reflects that defendant's response to the complaint is due by April 10, 2008, 60 days after February 8, 2008 is Tuesday, April 8, 2008. Consequently, we regard the due

date for our response to the complaint as April 8, 2008. This is defendant's first request for an enlargement of time for this purpose. We request the enlargement because we have not

been able to make the progress necessary to be able to respond to plaintiff's complaint by April 8, 2008. Upon receiving the

complaint we promptly provided a copy to the Federal Railroad Administration ("FRA"), the agency whose activities are a subject of this action. The FRA has provided a litigation report, and we

have had discussions with counsel for the FRA regarding an appropriate response to the complaint.

Case 1:08-cv-00079-EJD

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However, lead counsel for defendant has, over the past two weeks, been occupied primarily with preparing the Government's response to a motion for partial summary judgment filed by 1,805 plaintiffs in Federal Air Marshals v. United States, No. 06-233C (Fed. Cl.). That response, which includes a

cross-motion for summary judgment, was filed on March 28, 2008. In the days left before April 8, 2008, lead counsel for defendant must file a response to a motion to compel discovery in White Buffalo Construction, Inc. v. United States, No. 99-961C (Fed. Cl.), by April 7, 2008. preparation stage. That response is currently in the

Lead counsel for defendant must also prepare

for and attend status conferences in Hasler, Inc. v. United States, No. 06-653C (Fed. Cl.), and White Buffalo Construction, on April 7 and 8, 2008, respectively. In addition, in the days immediately after April 8, 2008, lead counsel for defendant must file a response to an informal brief in Morin v. OPM, No. 2008-3154 (Fed. Cir.), by April 10, 2008. Lead counsel must also, pursuant to an enlargement granted

by the Court of Appeals on March 24, 2008, file a response to the opening brief in North Hartland v. United States, No. 2008-5008 (Fed. Cir.), by April 14, 2008. preparation stage. Both of those briefs are in the

If the Court grants this request for an

enlargement, lead counsel for defendant will be able to complete

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those tasks before turning his full attention to the response to plaintiff's complaint, but no later than April 14, 2008. Counsel for plaintiff has represented to counsel for defendant that plaintiff consents to this request. For the

foregoing reasons, the United States respectfully requests that the Court grant this consent motion for an enlargement of time of 10 days, to April 18, 2008, to respond to plaintiff's complaint. Respectfully submitted, JEFFREY S. BUCHOLTZ Acting Assistant Attorney General JEANNE E. DAVIDSON Director

s/Mark A. Melnick MARK A. MELNICK Assistant Director

s/Timothy P. McIlmail TIMOTHY P. MCILMAIL Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Telephone: (202) 616-0342 Facsimile: (202) 514-7965 April 2, 2008 Attorneys for Defendant

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on April 2, 2008, a copy of the foregoing Defendant's Consent Motion For An Enlargement Of Time To Respond To Plaintiff's Complaint 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. may access this filing through the Court's system. Parties

s/Timothy P. McIlmail