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

Case 1:06-cv-00401-NBF

Document 20

Filed 02/07/2008

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS JILLINA MANION, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Defendant. ) __________________________________________)

No. 06-401L Hon. Nancy B. Firestone

JOINT MOTION TO REVISE THE FACT DISCOVERY SCHEDULE The parties hereby respectfully moves to revise the discovery schedule in the above referenced matter. The parties request that the period for fact discovery be extended sixty (30) days, or to and including March 10, 2008. By an Order dated November 7, 2006, the Court set June 11, 2007 as the closing date for fact discovery in this case. (Docket No. 12). That order also set August 9, 2007, as the closing date for expert discovery. On defendant's unopposed motion, the Court subsequently extended the fact discovery period until September 10, 2007 and the expert discovery period until November 7, 2007. (Docket No. 15). On September 7, 2007, defendant filed another unopposed motion to extend the discovery deadlines. (Docket No. 16). The Court granted this request on September 11, 2007, setting December 10, 2007 as the deadline for fact discovery and February 5, 2007 as the deadline for expert discovery. (Docket No. 17). In December, 2007, the Court also granted a request to extend the fact discovery period to February 8, 2008 and the expert discovery period to April 8, 2008. Due to certain developments in the discovery process the parties respectfully moves for another thirty (30) day extension of the period for fact discovery, or to and including March 10, 2008. This is the fourth request for extension of this deadline. 1

Case 1:06-cv-00401-NBF

Document 20

Filed 02/07/2008

Page 2 of 3

Pursuant to this Court's Order of November 7, 2006, the parties entered into discovery. At that time, plaintiff was already engaged in discovery in a related tort action which she filed against the United States in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. Manion v. United States, No. 06-739 (D.Or. filed May 22, 2006), dismissed Oct. 18, 2006, appeal docketed, No. 06-36075 (9th Cir. Dec. 11, 2006). Since that time, the parties have worked together to complete the discovery requests left outstanding after plaintiff's tort action was dismissed, and have exchanged written discovery and document requests pursuant to the discovery order of this Court. The parties have also conducted several depositions in the past six months. Despite the parties' best efforts, more time is needed for the completion of discovery in this matter. This case arises from the construction of a United States Coast Guard ("Coast Guard") housing project in Astoria, Oregon, that was completed in or around 1994. Specifically, plaintiff alleges that work done in the first of three phases of the Coast Guard housing project undercut the lateral support to her home, causing subsidence and cracking in plaintiff's home. In 2002, the Coast Guard, pursuant to its normal document retention policy, destroyed the contract and engineering documents that detailed the work done during that first phase of the Coast Guard housing project. After an exhaustive, yet fruitless, search of the Coast Guard's stored files, defendant learned that copies of some first phase documents were still in the possession of the project's lead engineering firm, OTAK. The parties reviewed these documents and, to date, have conducted two depositions based on the OTAK documents. In addition to the depositions of OTAK employees and the plaintiff, the parties have also conducted the deposition of two Coast Guard employees with knowledge of the facts at issue in

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Case 1:06-cv-00401-NBF

Document 20

Filed 02/07/2008

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this suit. These depositions took longer than normal to arrange because one of the deponents has retired from the Coast Guard and the other is stationed in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The parties seek this additional time to finish investigating facts in the possession of the City of Astoria, Oregon. The parties are in agreement that this enlargement should be granted. WHEREFORE, for the reasons stated above, the parties respectfully request that the deadline for completion of fact discovery be extended thirty (30) days, or to and including March 10, 2008. Respectfully submitted by Defendant on behalf of the parties this 7th day of February, 2008.

RONALD J. TENPAS Acting Assistant Attorney General Environment and Natural Resources Division

s/ Mark T. Romley Mark T. Romley Trial Attorney Natural Resources Section Environment & Natural Resources Division United States Department of Justice P. O. Box 663 Washington, D.C. 20044-0663 Telephone: (202) 305-0458 Fax: (202) 305-0506

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