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

Case 1:07-cv-00344-TCW

Document 16

Filed 06/02/2008

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS No. 07-344 T (Judge Thomas C. Wheeler) _____________________________________________ PFIZER INC., Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES Defendant. ______________________________________________ JOINT MOTION TO ENLARGE DISCOVERY PERIOD ______________________________________________

Pursuant to the Court's order filed on December 26, 2007, the parties were instructed to complete discovery by June 23, 2008. The parties hereby respectfully request that the Court enlarge the period by which the parties are instructed to complete discovery by 180 days, to and including December 20, 2008. As good cause for this request, the parties submit as follows: On March 13, 2007, plaintiff, through its counsel, submitted a settlement offer to defendant. Plaintiff's proposed settlement was referred to the Department of Justice's Office of Review for evaluation. The Office of Review is experiencing a high volume of interest related cases, and a considerable amount of time is required review each calculation. The computational specialist in the Office of Review anticipates that analysis of plaintiff's settlement proposal will be complete by September 30, 2008.

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Case 1:07-cv-00344-TCW

Document 16

Filed 06/02/2008

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The parties continue to believe that settlement of the case is likely, however, defendant's counsel does not know if the Office of Review will require additional information from plaintiff prior to reaching a conclusion with respect to plaintiff's settlement proposal. Likewise, plaintiff's counsel does not know if the Government will reject plaintiff's settlement proposal, and cannot determine if discovery will be needed to better understand the factual basis underlying the Government's position with respect to plaintiff's proposal. Accordingly, the parties are incapable of conducting discovery until an evaluation of plaintiff's settlement proposal is completed by the Office of Review.

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Case 1:07-cv-00344-TCW

Document 16

Filed 06/02/2008

Page 3 of 3

WHEREFORE, the parties respectfully request that the Court enlarge the period by which the parties are instructed to complete discovery, by 180 days, to accommodate the possibility that plaintiff's settlement proposal will not be approved by the Office of Review, in which case, the parties may need to conduct additional discovery.

Respectfully submitted, June 2, 2008 s/ Lawrence D. Rosenberg LAWRENCE D. ROSENBERG Jones Day 51 Louisiana Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20001 Voice: (202) 879-7622 Fax: (202) 626-1700 Email: [email protected] Counsel for Plaintiff s/ Jeffrey R. Malo JEFFREY R. MALO Attorney of Record United States Department of Justice Tax Division Court of Federal Claims Section Post Office Box 26 Ben Franklin Post Office Washington, D.C. 20044 Voice: (202) 305-7539 Fax: (202) 514-9440 Email: [email protected] NATHAN J. HOCHMAN Assistant Attorney General DAVID GUSTAFSON Chief, Court of Federal Claims Section W.C. Rapp Senior Trial Attorney, Court of Federal Claims Section .

June 2, 2008

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June 2, 2008

s/ W.C. Rapp Of Counsel Counsel for Defendant

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