Free Joint Preliminary Status Report - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:06-cv-00312-TCW

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS MULTISERVICE JOINT VENTURE LLC, ) ) Plaintiff, ) No. 06-312C ) (Judge Wheeler) v. ) ) THE UNITED STATES, ) ) Defendant. ) ) JOINT PRELIMINARY STATUS REPORT Pursuant to Appendix A of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims ("RCFC"), plaintiff and defendant respectfully submit the following joint preliminary status report: a. Jurisdiction

Plaintiff states that the Court has jurisdiction to consider and decide this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1491. Defendant is not aware at this time of a basis upon which to challenge the Court's jurisdiction to entertain the claims in plaintiff's complaint. Defendant notes, however, that although the amount listed in plaintiff's certified claim for Hurricane Isabel expenses is $6,609, the amount claimed in the complaint is $71,158. Defendant intends to ascertain through discovery whether the expenses claimed in the complaint stem from the same factual circumstances as those set forth in plaintiff's certified claim and, if not, to seek dismissal of any portion of its current claim that was not presented to the contracting officer. b. Consolidation

The parties agree that this case should not be consolidated with any other case.

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c.

Bifurcation

The parties agree that trial of liability and damages should not be bifurcated. d. Deferral

The parties agree that further proceedings in this case should not be deferred pending consideration of another case before this Court or any other tribunal. e. Remand/Suspension

The parties agree that no remand or suspension will be sought. f. Joinder

The parties agree that no additional parties will be joined. g. Dispositive Motions

In addition to a possible motion to dismiss referenced by defendant in paragraph (a), the parties may submit cross-motions for summary judgment pursuant to RCFC 56 after discovery has been completed. h. 1. Relevant Issues Whether under the terms of the contract between the parties plaintiff is entitled to

reimbursement for increased labor and benefits costs for the periods of (a) March 1, 2004 to February 28, 2005; or (b) March 1, 2005 through August 31, 2005, as a result of the January 27, 2004 execution of a collective bargaining agreement between plaintiff and the U.S. Naval Academy Cleaning Employees Bargaining Unit. 2. Whether under the terms of the contract between the parties plaintiff is entitled to

reimbursement for health and welfare costs for the period of March 1, 2003 through September

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30, 2003, pursuant to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between plaintiff's predecessor and the U.S. Naval Academy Cleaning Employees Bargaining Unit. 3. Whether the Navy failed to allow plaintiff to re-perform certain obligations under

the contract between the parties or to compensate plaintiff for such re-performance and, if so, the amount of any damage caused by such failures. 4. Whether under the terms of the contract plaintiff or the Government is responsible

for damage to property caused by Hurricane Isabel; whether certain property stored by plaintiff was in fact damaged by the hurricane; whether plaintiff was entitled to inspect the property before it was discarded; and the value of any property so discarded. 5. Whether plaintiff is entitled to recover costs associated with the need to complete

stripping and finishing work before August 15, 2003; whether the schedule to complete this work constituted a constructive acceleration; and whether any delays that necessitated the expedited completion of this work were caused by Government. i. Settlement

The parties anticipate pursuing settlement negotiations on an informal basis as the litigation progresses. j. Trial

As stated above, after discovery has been completed, the parties may submit crossmotions for summary judgment pursuant to RCFC 56. If dispositive motions are not submitted, or if they are not completely dispositive of this action, the parties anticipate proceeding to trial in Washington, D.C. The parties do not request expedited trial scheduling.

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k.

Electronic Case Management

Parties have no special issue regarding electronic case management needs. l. Additional Information

There is no additional information of which the Court should be aware at this time. m. Proposed Discovery Plan

The parties intend to conduct simultaneous discovery through interrogatories, requests for admission, requests for production of documents, and depositions. The parties propose the following discovery schedule: Exchange of Initial Disclosures Close of Fact Discovery Plaintiff's Expert Report Due Defendant's Expert Report Due Deadline for Expert Depositions November 13, 2006 June 29, 2007 April 16, 2007 June 1, 2007 June 29, 2007

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Respectfully submitted,

PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General

DAVID M. COHEN Director s/ Kathryn A. Bleecker KATHRYN A. BLEECKER Assistant Director

s/Janice Davis JANICE DAVIS Davis & Steele 1100 15th Street, N.W. Suite 300 Tel. (202) 530-5828 Fax (202) 530-5717

s/ Andrew P. Averbach ANDREW P. AVERBACH Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice 1100 L Street, N.W. Attn: Classification Unit, 8th Floor Washington, DC 20530 Tel. (202) 353-0527 Fax (202) 305-2118 Attorneys for Defendant

Attorneys for Plaintiff September 13, 2006

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