Free Motion for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS THEODORE FATHAUER et al., Plaintiffs, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 07-279C (Judge Baskir)

DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE ITS UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME AND UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME Motion For Leave To File Pursuant to paragraph 7 of this Court's May 22, 2007 Special Procedures Order, the defendant respectfully seeks leave to file its unopposed motion for an enlargement of time to file its reply in support of its motion for summary judgment. This motion is being filed upon the date our reply is due. Defendant's counsel had anticipated that he would complete the Government's reply for filing with the Court today. However, several unforeseen matters in other cases for which defendant's counsel is responsible have occupied inordinate amounts of defendant's counsel's time over the last week and a half. Significant among those matters was unanticipated post-hearing work in the bid protest Hallmark Phoenix 3, LLC v. United States, Fed. Cl. No. 08-192, which has required all of defendant's counsel's normal working time, including the weekend, since last Wednesday. Additionally, the bid-protest work forced defendant's counsel

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to reschedule travel for certain discovery in T.B. Penick & Sons v. United States, Fed. Cl. No. 06-463, which has proven difficult and time-consuming in light of the current airline shortage (as well as the fact that all efforts to reschedule flights were made after business hours). Despite this, defendant's counsel continued working upon the reply for this case and honestly believed that he could complete it in time for filing today. To minimize the inconvenience visited upon the Court and the plaintiffs, the defendant intends to request a short 2-day enlargement, through Friday, April 18, 2008. Additionally, to avoid any impact upon the overall briefing schedule for the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment, the defendant does not seek to enlarge the filing date for the parties' Consolidated Statement Of Uncontroverted Fact, currently due Wednesday, April 23, 2008. Accordingly, we respectfully request that the Court grant this motion for leave to file the defendant's unopposed motion for an enlargement of time, immediately below. Unopposed Motion For An Enlargement Of Time Pursuant to RCFC 6(b), defendant respectfully requests an enlargement of time of 2 days, to and including April 18, 2008, to file its reply in support of its motion for summary judgment. The reply is currently due on April 16, 2008. This is our first request for an enlargement of time for this purpose. Plaintiffs' counsel has indicated that plaintiffs will not

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oppose this request for an enlargement of time. The requested enlargement is necessary because defendant's counsel, despite his best efforts, has not been able to fully prepare the defendant's reply in time to permit mandatory internal review prior to the current deadline. This is largely due to the fact that defendant's counsel was assigned to handle the bid protest Hallmark Phoenix 3, LLC v. United States, Fed. Cl. No. 08-192, in mid-March. This is a pre-award protest that has proceeded upon an accelerated schedule, and has consequently demanded the majority of defendant's counsel's time and energy over the last three weeks. Defendant's counsel has been concurrently working to prepare the reply for this case, but he was not able to complete the reply in time to allow for full review, both internally and by the client agencies. We anticipate that an enlargement of 2 days will permit counsel for the defendant to fully prepare the reply in this case for filing. Counsel for the defendant apologizes to the Court and to the plaintiffs for any inconvenience this delay might cause. For the foregoing reasons, defendant respectfully requests that the Court grant this motion for an enlargement of time.

Respectfully submitted, JEFFREY S. BUCHOLTZ Acting Assistant Attorney General

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JEANNE E. DAVIDSON Director s/ Mark A. Melnick (by D. Bynum) MARK A. MELNICK Assistant Director s/ Devin A. Wolak DEVIN A. WOLAK Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice 1100 L Street, N.W. Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor Washington, DC 20530 Tel. (202) 616-0170 Fax. (202) 514-8624 April 16, 2008 Attorneys for Defendant

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING

I hereby certify that on April 16, 2008, a copy of the foregoing "DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE ITS UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME AND UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME" 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/ Devin A. Wolak