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

Case 1:06-cv-00202-ECH

Document 18

Filed 05/15/2007

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ______________________________________________________ No. 06-202 T (Judge Emily C. Hewitt) ARBITRAGE TRADING, LLC, by and through ROBERT C. GUNTHER as trustee for ROBERT AND JAYNE GUNTHER 1999 REVOCABLE TRUST, Plaintiffs, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. __________________________________________________________ JOINT MOTION FOR SUSPENSION OF PROCEEDINGS __________________________________________________________ The parties to the above captioned case respectfully move the Court for an order suspending proceedings in this case until a final opinion is published in Jade Trading, LLC v. United States (Ct. Fed. Cl. 03-2164) (hereinafter "Jade Trading"). The complaint in Jade Trading, a copy of which is attached hereto, was filed on September 12, 2003. In support of this motion, the parties submit the following: 1. The instant case involves a claim arising out of a transaction very similar to the transaction at issue in Jade Trading. Questions concerning the proper tax treatment of this transaction are currently before the Court in Jade Trading and involve very similar issues to those presented here. 2. Jade Trading has been tried, fully briefed, and argued; it is ready for decision and counsel expect an opinion to be issued within the
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Case 1:06-cv-00202-ECH

Document 18

Filed 05/15/2007

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coming months. Counsel expect that the decision in Jade Trading will be appealed to the Federal Circuit and that the appeals process will require approximately 12 - 18 months. 3. The parties here believe that it is unlikely that the Court would reach a conclusion in this case contrary to the ruling of the Federal Circuit in Jade Trading. Further, they optimistically estimate that it will require a minimum of 18 months in this case to complete the discovery process, hold a trial, complete post-trial briefing, and the opinion-writing process. 4. Accordingly, the parties believe that binding precedent which will largely dispose of this case will be issued by the Federal Circuit in Jade Trading before this case could be prepared, tried, and decided. 5. Accordingly, the parties are in agreement that suspension of the instant case pending decision and appeal in Jade Trading is appropriate in this case. Any efforts expended in developing this case at present are likely to be for naught and the parties do not wish to incur the costs and burdens of developing this case under such circumstances. 6. If events reveal that the Jade Trading decision will not be released as expected, or that its appeal will not affect the instant case as expected, the parties will so advise this Court.

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Case 1:06-cv-00202-ECH

Document 18

Filed 05/15/2007

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For these reasons, the parties jointly request that the Court suspend the proceedings in the instant suit. Respectfully submitted,

s/ David D. Aughtry David D. Aughtry Tax Court No. AD0165 Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Martin 191 Peachtree Street, NE, Ninth Floor Atlanta, Georgia 30303 (404)659-1410 (404)659-1852 Facsimile May 15, 2007

s/ StuartJ. Bassin STUART J. BASSIN Attorney of Record U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division Court of Federal Claims Section Post Office Box 26 Ben Franklin Post Office Washington, D.C. 20044 (202) 307-6418 May 15, 2007 EILEEN J. O'CONNOR Assistant Attorney General DAVID GUSTAFSON Chief, Court of Federal Claims Section JEFFREY R. MALO Trial Attorney s/ Jeffrey R. Malo Of Counsel May 15, 2007

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