Free Status Report - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:08-cv-00051-NBF

Document 19

Filed 08/25/2008

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

No. 08-51C (Judge Firestone)

DEFENDANT'S MOTION SEEKING LEAVE TO FILE OUT OF TIME AND STATUS REPORT The United States, defendant, seeks leave to file this status report out of time. Pursuant to the Court's July 25, 2008 order, a joint status report was due on August 22, 2008. The parties have worked diligently on the matters raised in this case, however, counsel for defendant had a personal family emergency that resulted in a failure to file the status report within the time allotted by the Court. Defendant respectfully apologizes for any inconvenience or hardship this may have caused the Court. Accordingly, defendant respectfully requests that the Court grant its motion to file the status report out of time. Counsel for plaintiff does not object to this motion. STATUS REPORT Pursuant to the Court's Order, dated July 25, 2008, defendant hereby advises the Court that settlement discussions in the above-captioned case continue in good faith and the parties are working towards a global settlement that encompasses the issues currently before the Court as well as three additional certified claims in which the contracting officer has yet to issue a final decision. Defendant also advises the Court that plaintiff has elected to change counsel from Mr. Kent Smith of Smith, Currie, & Hancock, LLP, 2700 Marquis One Tower, 245 Peachtree Street, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-1227 to Mr. Michael Gordon of Michael A. Gordon PLLC, 1629 K Street, N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC, 20006. Counsel for defendant spoke with Mr. Smith

Case 1:08-cv-00051-NBF

Document 19

Filed 08/25/2008

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and Mr. Gordon and learned that plaintiff filed the necessary documents with the Court's electronic filing system today. Mr. Gordon advised counsel for defendant that he anticipates needing approximately 21 days to review the case file to effectively represent plaintiff due to the extensive amount of issues raised in this case. Once Mr. Gordon is familiar with the issues in this matter, the parties contemplate that the settlement negotiation process shall take an additional 14 days to conclude. Therefore, defendant respectfully request a 35-day stay of proceedings to further explore the possibility of resolving this matter through alternative means. For these reasons, the parties respectfully request that the Court grant this motion to stay proceedings until September 29, 2008. Respectfully submitted,

GREGORY G. KATSAS Assistant Attorney General JEANNE E. DAVIDSON Director /s/ Steven J. Gillingham STEVEN J. GILLINGHAM Assistant Director

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Case 1:08-cv-00051-NBF

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Filed 08/25/2008

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/s/ Christopher L. Krafchek CHRISTOPHER L. KRAFCHEK Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice 1100 L St., Room 12076 Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: (202) 305-0041 Fax: (202) 514-8624 August 25, 2008 Attorneys for Defendant

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Case 1:08-cv-00051-NBF

Document 19

Filed 08/25/2008

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Certificate of Filing I hereby certify that on this 25th day of August, 2008, a copy of "Defendant's Motion Seeking Leave To File Out Of Time And Status Report" 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/ Christopher L. Krafchek Christopher L. Krafchek