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

Case 1:06-cv-00387-LB

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Filed 06/29/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS INFORMATION SYSTEMS & NETWORKS CORP. Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 06-387 (Chief Judge Damich)

DEFENDANT'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME Defendant respectfully requests an enlargement of time of 60 days, to and including September 8, 2006, within which to file its response to plaintiff's complaint. Defendant's response This is defendant's

currently is due to be filed July 10, 2006.

first request for an enlargement of time for this purpose. Counsel for plaintiff has informed us that plaintiff does not oppose our request for an enlargement of time for this purpose.1 Upon receipt of the complaint, defendant promptly sent a copy to the Defense Contract Management Agency ("DCMA") with a request for a litigation report and suggested response to the complaint, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 520. Although counsel for

In February 2006, plaintiff filed a previous action in this Court, Information Systems & Networks Corp. v. United States, Fed. Cl. No. 06-99C (J. Block), which involves the same contracts and, indeed, the two final decisions issued by the contracting officer in each case were issued in response to plaintiff's December 14, 2004 claim letter. Counsel for defendant raised with counsel for plaintiff the fact that Fed. Cl. No. 06-99C and this case (Fed. Cl. No. 06-387) are related and that a notice of related cases is required pursuant to RCFC 40.2. Counsel for plaintiff has informed counsel for defendant and agency counsel that he will be filing a notice of related cases in the near future.

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Case 1:06-cv-00387-LB

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DCMA has begun the process of preparing DCMA's litigation report, counsel for the agency has informed counsel for defendant that additional time is necessary for him to gather and review information necessary for preparation of the agency's litigation report and suggested response to the complaint. The requested enlargement of time is required so that agency counsel may have sufficient time to obtain from DCMA employees, including the contracting officer, relevant information concerning the nature of plaintiff's claimed costs. Timely

completion of the agency's litigation report has been hampered somewhat because the complaint filed by plaintiff concerns multiple contracts and claims, and covers a time period of over 20 years. Agency counsel anticipates that travel to Baltimore, Maryland, to meet with the contracting officer, also will be required as part of his efforts to gather additional information. Agency counsel also is in the process of obtaining information from the Defense Contract Audit Agency ("DCAA") auditors relevant to DCAA's audit of plaintiff's claimed costs. In addition, agency counsel recently has been involved in preparing and conducting discovery in BAE Systems Land-Armaments, LP, ASBCA Nos. 54431-32, 55337, ATK Thiokol, Inc. ASBCA No. 55395, 55418, and Northrop Grumman Systems, ASBCA Nos. 55061-62.

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Accordingly, he has not yet had sufficient time within which to turn his complete attention to this matter. Once agency counsel completes the litigation report and agency's suggested response to the complaint, additional time is necessary so that defendant's counsel may have a sufficient opportunity to review the litigation report and suggested response to the complaint, obtain any additional information or clarification from DCMA, and prepare and file the Government's response to the complaint. For these reasons, defendant respectfully requests that the Court grant its unopposed motion for an enlargement of time. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director OF COUNSEL: GREGORY T. ALLEN Trial Attorney Defense Contract Management Agency Manassas, Virginia s/ Mark A. Melnick MARK A. MELNICK Assistant Director s/ David B. Stinson DAVID B. STINSON Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor, 1100 L St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: (202) 307-0163 Fax: (202) 514-8624 Attorneys for Defendant -3-

JUNE 29, 2006

Case 1:06-cv-00387-LB

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on JUNE 29, 2006 a copy of the foregoing "DEFENDANT'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME" 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. the Court's system. s/ David B. Stinson DAVID B. STINSON Parties may access this filing through