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

Case 1:06-cv-00401-NBF

Document 14

Filed 05/21/2007

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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

MOTION TO REVISE DISCOVERY SCHEDULE Defendant, United States of America, with the agreement of plaintiff, hereby respectfully moves to revise the discovery schedule in the above referenced matter. By an Order dated November 7, 2006, the Court set June 11, 2006 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. Due to certain developments in the discovery process, defendant, with the agreement of plaintiff, respectfully moves for a ninety (90) day extension of the period for fact discovery, or to and including September 10, 2007. Defendant also requests that the period for expert discovery be extended ninety (90) days, or to and including November 7, 2007. There have been no other requested extensions of these deadlines. 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

Case 1:06-cv-00401-NBF

Document 14

Filed 05/21/2007

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discovery order of this Court. Despite the parties' best efforts, more time is needed for the completion of this work. 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 these first phase documents were still in the possession of the project's lead engineering firm, OTAK. The parties are currently in discussion with OTAK personnel, and OTAK counsel, regarding the best approach for gleaning the small subset of first phase documents from the entire collection of project documents that OTAK still has in its possession. This additional time is needed to coordinate this effort, to allow for a thorough review of the newly obtained documents and to allow for the deposition of people involved with the project. These depositions cannot effectively be accomplished without these documents. The documents obtained from OTAK will also serve as input for the work of the expert witnesses in this matter. Accordingly, a ninety (90) day enlargement of the deadline for completion of expert discovery, or to and including November 7, 2007, is also requested. WHEREFORE, for the reasons stated above, defendant respectfully requests that the deadline for completion of fact discovery be extended ninety (90) days, or to and including September 10, 2007, and the deadline for completion of expert discovery be extended ninety (90) days, or to and including November 7, 2007.

Case 1:06-cv-00401-NBF

Document 14

Filed 05/21/2007

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Dated: May 21, 2007.

Respectfully submitted, MATTHEW J. MCKEOWN 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) 305-0274