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

Case 1:07-cv-00151-MBH

Document 28

Filed 07/14/2008

Page 1 of 3

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

No. 07-151 (Judge Horn)

JOINT MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF EXPERT DISCOVERY DEADLINE Pursuant to Rule 6(b) of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims ("RCFC"), the parties hereby jointly move, through their undersigned counsel, for an enlargement of time of fiftyseven days, to and including October 3, 2008, in which to complete expert discovery in this case. Expert discovery is currently scheduled to close on August 7, 2008. The parties respectfully state that there is good cause to extend the expert discovery deadline. The parties intend to engage in settlement negotiations in this matter during the week of July 21, 2008 in the hopes of obviating altogether a need for expert discovery and continued litigation in this case. In the interest of facilitating the planned settlement discussions, the Government has provided to plaintiff's counsel a draft expert report outlining the Government's position in this matter. If settlement negotiations are unsuccessful, the Government intends to provide plaintiff with a final version of its report no later than July 31, 2008. After that point, additional time will be necessary in order for plaintiff to generate a formal rebuttal report, and for the parties to engage in depositions. An extension of time until October 3, as opposed to some shorter period, is sought due to a two-week trial that will significantly affect plaintiff's counsel's schedule during the month of September.

1

Case 1:07-cv-00151-MBH

Document 28

Filed 07/14/2008

Page 2 of 3

For the foregoing reasons, the parties respectfully request an extension of time of fiftyseven days, to and including October 3, 2008, in which to complete expert discovery. Respectfully submitted, GREGORY G. KATSAS Assistant Attorney General JEANNE E. DAVIDSON Director

s/ Donald E. Kinner DONALD E. KINNER Assistant Director s/ Bruce Dickstein BRUCE DICKSTEIN DREIFUSS, BONACCI & PARKER, LLP 26 Columbia Turnpike, North Entrance Florham Park, N.J. 07932 Tel: (973) 514-1414 Fax: (973) 514-5959 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

Attorney for Plaintiff July 14, 2008 .

2

Case 1:07-cv-00151-MBH

Document 28

Filed 07/14/2008

Page 3 of 3

CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on this 14th day of July 2008, a copy of the foregoing "JOINT MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF EXPERT DISCOVERY DEADLINE" 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