Free Motion to Stay - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:07-cv-00326-RHH

Document 11

Filed 10/01/2007

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS

HILLIAN BROS. & SONS, INC., Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant.

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Case No. 07-326C (Judge Hodges)

JOINT MOTION FOR A STAY OF PROCEEDINGS AND REMAND Pursuant to Rule 52.2 of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims ("RCFC"), plaintiff, Hillian Bros. & Sons, Inc., and defendant, the United States, respectfully request that the Court grant a stay of proceedings in this case for 45 days from the date of its order and remand the cause to the Contracting Officer for a decision on plaintiff's February 12, 2007, as amended by its April 5, 2007, in accordance with the Contract Disputes Act, 41 U.S.C. §§ 601-613 (2006) ("CDA"). Section 605(c)(5) of the CDA provides the Court with discretion to enter a stay when in a case such as this one, "suit is . . . commenced in the absence of a prior decision by the contracting officer." 41 U.S.C. § 605(c)(5). Moreover, "the Court may issue a stay to obtain a final decision when the Court believes that such a decision would be beneficial to the parties and assist resolution of the matter." United Partition Sys., Inc. v. United States, 59 Fed. Cl. 627, 641-42 (2004); RCFC 52.2. In the present case, plaintiff submitted its claim to the contracting officer on February 12, 2007, and amended the claim on April 5, 2007. The contracting officer never issued a final decision.

Case 1:07-cv-00326-RHH

Document 11

Filed 10/01/2007

Page 2 of 3

Both parties believe that a contracting officer's final decision would greatly assist in resolving the matter because it would give the parties a clearer understanding of the controversy. Accordingly, in the interest of conserving judicial resources, and the time and expense of the parties, the parties respectfully request that the Court stay the proceedings in the case and enter an order staying this matter for 45 days, commencing upon the day of the order, so that the contracting officer may issue a final decision upon plaintiff's claim. Within 14 days from the conclusion of the stay, the parties shall submit a joint status report recommending further proceedings in this matter. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General JEANNE E. DAVIDSON Director /s Martin F. Hockey, Jr. MARTIN F. HOCKEY, JR. Assistant Director /s Donald H. Spence DONALD H. SPENCE Greenburg, Spence & Taylor, LLC 51 Monroe Place, Suite 707 Rockville, Maryland 20850 Tel: (301) 610-7561 Fax: (301) 610-0021 /s Armando A. Rodriguez-Feo ARMANDO A. RODRIGUEZ-FEO Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L St., NW Washington, D.C. 20530 Tel: (202) 307-3390 Fax: (202) 514-8624 Attorneys for Defendant

October 1, 2007

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Case 1:07-cv-00326-RHH

Document 11

Filed 10/01/2007

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on this 1st day of October, 2007, a copy of the foregoing "JOINT MOTION FOR A STAY OF PROCEEDINGS AND REMAND" 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. The parties may access this filing through the Court's system.

s/ Armando A. Rodriguez-Feo