Free Motion to Stay - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:06-cv-00335-GWM

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Filed 06/22/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS JEFFREY H. NOKELL, Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 06-335C (Judge George W. Miller)

DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR A STAY OF PROCEEDINGS OR, ALTERNATIVELY, FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME TO RESPOND TO THE COMPLAINT Defendant, the United States, respectfully requests that the Court stay further proceedings in this case, through and including July 14, 2006, to provide the parties an opportunity to enter into Alternative Dispute Resolution ("ADR"). In the

alternative, pursuant to United States Court of Federal Claims Rule 6.1, we respectfully request an enlargement of time of 18 days, from June 26, 2006, through and including July 14, 2006, to respond to the complaint. This is our first request for either a

stay or an enlargement of time to respond to the complaint in this action. Plaintiff's counsel does not oppose this motion.

This overtime case is related to the following matters that currently are stayed pending settlement negotiations: Bland v.

United States, Fed. Cl. No. 04-557C; Busigo v. United States, Fed. Cl. No. 05-422C; Case v. United States, Fed. Cl. No. 05687C; Dupuis v. United States, Fed. Cl. No. 06-82C; and Fleury v. United States, Fed. Cl. No. 06-156. The parties have discussed engaging in ADR in the above cases. Plaintiffs have agreed to engage in ADR. Undersigned

Case 1:06-cv-00335-GWM

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counsel of record for the Government has tentatively agreed to engage in ADR, subject to further approval. Department of Justice

Counsel expects that this case will be included within

any ADR proceedings as well. In the five cases listed above, the parties are requesting that the stay in this action be continued through and including July 14, 2006, in order to obtain the necessary approval by the Government for proceeding with ADR. If such approval is

obtained, the parties, by July 14, 2006, will file a notice with the Court of their desire to pursue ADR, pursuant to Appendix H, Section 3 of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims. The Government requests that this case be treated in the

same fashion. Alternatively, we respectfully request that the Court grant our request for an enlargement of time, through and including July 14, 2006, to respond to the complaint. In this way, if the

stay is not granted, the Government will have the opportunity to file its response in a timely fashion.

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CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, defendant, the United States, respectfully requests that this matter be stayed or, alternatively, that the Court grant the Government an enlargement of time, through and including July 14, 2006, to respond to the complaint. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director s/Steven J. Gillingham STEVEN J. GILLINGHAM Assistant Director s/Richard P. Schroeder RICHARD P. SCHROEDER Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit Eighth Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: (202) 305-7562 Attorneys for Defendant July 22, 2006

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that on this day of June 22, 2006, "DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR A STAY OF PROCEEDINGS OR, ALTERNATIVELY, FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME TO RESPOND TO THE COMPLAINT," 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/Richard P. Schroeder