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

Case 1:06-cv-00113-MBH

Document 47

Filed 11/02/2007

Page 1 of 4

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS OAK ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS, INC., Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 06-113C (Judge Horn)

JOINT STATUS REPORT The parties respectfully submit the following joint status report requesting that the discovery cutoff in this matter be extended from Wednesday, November 7, 2007, to and including Friday, November 16, 2007, so that the parties can continue settlement negotiations, attempt to resolve certain discovery issues, and complete depositions. Further, in the event the

settlement negotiations prove unsuccessful, an extension will provide the parties an opportunity to initiate alternative dispute resolution proceedings, assuming the Court has no objection to the parties proceeding in that manner. In light of the progress that they have made toward settlement, the parties agree that, if direct negotiations do not promptly result in a settlement that can be recommended to the authorized representative of the Attorney General, they would prefer to attempt to resolve the case through the Court's alternative dispute resolution program, rather than proceeding to trial, which currently is scheduled to commence on December 4,

Case 1:06-cv-00113-MBH

Document 47

Filed 11/02/2007

Page 2 of 4

2007.1

The parties believe that ADR would be more efficient and

less costly than a trial, place less of a financial burden upon the plaintiff, and bring this matter to a quicker resolution than continued litigation. Accordingly, to enable the parties to continue focusing upon settlement, to provide counsel for the Government with time to obtain the necessary approval to proceed with ADR, and to provide the parties an opportunity to complete discovery, the parties respectfully request that the discovery deadline be reset to November 16, 2007. Because the parties' pretrial filings are not due until November 26, 2007, the requested discovery extension will not affect the remaining schedule, including the commencement of trial on December 4, 2007, in the event that the Court determines that this matter should proceed to trial as scheduled. Respectfully submitted, /s/Michael H. Payne MICHAEL H. PAYNE Payne Hackenbracht & Sullivan 220 Commerce Dr. Suite 100 Fort Washington, PA 19034 Tele: (215) 542-2777 PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General JEANNE E. DAVIDSON Director

Before initiating the ADR process, counsel for the Government must prepare an internal memorandum and submit it for approval. 2

1

Case 1:06-cv-00113-MBH

Document 47

Filed 11/02/2007

Page 3 of 4

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 November 1, 2007

3

Case 1:06-cv-00113-MBH

Document 47

Filed 11/02/2007

Page 4 of 4

CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that on this 1st day of October 2007, a copy of the foregoing "JOINT STATUS REPORT" was filed electronically. I understand that notice of this filing will be sent to all parties by operation of the Court's electronic filing syste1m. Parties may access this filing through the Court's system. s/

4