Free Status Report - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:07-cv-00151-MBH

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Filed 09/02/2008

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS UNITED STATES FIRE INS. CO., Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 07-151 (Judge Horn)

DEFENDANT'S STATUS REPORT Pursuant to this Court's Order of August 19, 2008, directing that "defendant shall file a status report, without numbers, indicating settlement progress," defendant hereby respectfully submits this status report. The process of reviewing the proposed settlement has begun, with defendant's counsel having presented her recommendation in favor of settlement to her superior for the first level of review. Additional rounds of review are necessary before submission to the authorized representative of the Attorney General for approval of the settlement. Moreover, we anticipate further discussions regarding aspects of the proposed settlement with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Although plaintiff has expressed great dissatisfaction at the length of time required for completion of the Department of Justice's internal review and approval procedures, defendant's counsel is unable to influence the amount of time required other than by her diligent work upon the appropriate memoranda. The nature of the proposed settlement and the multiplicity of the issues presented by this case­in which US Fire alleges that it is entitled to payment in connection with over a thousand days of project delays, twenty-four separate change order proposals, miscellaneous costs associated with numerous subcontractors, six separate pass

Case 1:07-cv-00151-MBH

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through claims, the contract balance, and claim preparation costs­of necessity requires careful consideration at multiple levels. Accordingly, defendant's counsel can make no warranty as to how long the foregoing review process will take to complete. Defendant's counsel is working expeditiously to resolve this matter as soon as possible.

Respectfully submitted, GREGORY G. KATSAS Assistant Attorney General JEANNE E. DAVIDSON Director

s/ Donald E. Kinner DONALD E. KINNER Assistant Director s/ A. Bondurant Eley A. BONDURANT ELEY Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Classification Unit, 8th Floor Washington, D.C. 20530 Tel: (202) 616-8254 Fax: (202) 514-8624 Attorneys for Defendant September 2, 2008

Case 1:07-cv-00151-MBH

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Filed 09/02/2008

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on this 2nd day of September 2008, a copy of the foregoing "Defendant's 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/ A. Bondurant Eley