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

Case 1:06-cv-00932-ECH

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS AK-CHIN INDIAN COMMUNITY, ) ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Defendant. ) ____________________________________)

Case No. 06-0932L-ECH Judge Emily C. Hewitt Electronically filed on September 6, 2007

MOTION BY DEFENDANT FOR ENLARGEMENT OF TIME WITHIN WHICH TO FILE DEFENDANT'S REPLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF ITS MOTION TO DISMISS Pursuant to Rule 6.1 of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (RCFC), Defendant, the United States of America, respectfully moves this Court for a ten-day enlargement of time, to and including Friday, September 21, 2007, within which to file its reply to Plaintiff's opposition memorandum relating to Defendant's motion to dismiss under 28 U.S.C. § 1500. This motion is Defendant's first such motion. The grounds for this motion are as follows: 1. Pursuant to RCFC 7 and this Court's August 17, 2007, Order extending the time

for the filing of Plaintiff's response memorandum, the United States' reply memorandum currently is due September 11, 2007. 2. Defendant needs additional time to prepare its reply memorandum and consult

with agency counsel before finalizing and filing it. 3. This is in part due to other responsibilities in cases pending in this Court,

including one case in which over forty filings were made by other parties between August 17 and August 20, requiring undersigned counsel's attention. Substantive responses to many of those 1

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papers, including twenty motions, currently are due between the date of this motion to extend and the date of the requested extended deadline. 4. In addition, agency counsel, with whom Defendant and undersigned counsel need

to confer in connection with the reply, has been out of town during the time between the filing of Plaintiff's response memorandum and September 11, the date when Defendant's reply would otherwise be due. 5. Defendant requests additional time also to accommodate pressures on counsel's

schedule arising from a family medical emergency. A member of undersigned counsel's family was hospitalized (outside the Washington, D.C. area) on August 20 as a result of a medical emergency, and remains hospitalized. That family medical situation is ongoing and has required undersigned counsel's attention, as well as some out-of-town travel, during part of the time between the date Plaintiff's opposition memorandum was filed, and the date of this request for an extension. Undersigned counsel anticipates that situation will continue to require her attention, and additional out-of-town travel, in the near future and coming weeks. 6. For all of these reasons, Defendant needs additional time to complete and file its

reply memorandum; and requests an enlargement of ten days, to and including Friday, September 21, 2007, of the time within which its reply memorandum is due. 7. Undersigned counsel for Defendant communicated with Plaintiff's counsel

regarding this extension. Plaintiff's counsel conveyed Plaintiff's consent in principle to an extension of a week or slightly more. In a later communication, Plaintiff's counsel stated that Plaintiff's consent was contingent upon the United States joining in a request to the Court to schedule oral argument on Defendant's motion for a date at the Court's "earliest convenience

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and no later than October 9." Defendant will join Plaintiff in making a request for an oral argument date convenient to both parties, counsel, and the Court prior to October 9, as Plaintiff requests; and has communicated that to Plaintiff's counsel. 8. Granting this motion will not prejudice any party, nor unduly delay the case.

WHEREFORE, Defendant respectfully requests that this motion for enlargement of time be granted. Respectfully submitted this 6th day of September, 2007,

RONALD J. TENPAS ACTING ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL s/Laura M.L. Maroldy Laura M.L. Maroldy United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division Natural Resources Section P.O. Box 663 Washington, D.C. 20044-0663 Tel: (202) 514-4565 Fax: (202) 353-2021 Attorneys for Defendant

OF COUNSEL ELISABETH BRANDON Office of the Solicitor United States Department of the Interior Washington, D.C. 20240

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TERESA E. DAWSON Senior Counsel Office of the Chief Counsel Financial Management Service United States Department of the Treasury Washington, D.C. 20227

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