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

Case 1:05-cv-01158-TCW

Document 16

Filed 12/01/2006

Page 1 of 2

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ______________________________________________________________________________ LLOYD H. WENTWORTH, Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES Defendant. ______________________________________________________________________________ JOINT STATUS REPORT Pursuant to the Court's Order of January 10, 2006, the parties respectfully submit the following Joint Status Report to apprise the Court of the status of their efforts to resolve this and numerous closely-related cases through the Court's Alternative Dispute Resolution ("ADR") pilot program. As previously reported, the parties have reached a proposed settlement agreement that has been approved by the Department of Agriculture and recommended for approval by the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. The parties are now pleased to inform the Court that the agreement continues to make progress through the multi-level approval process within the Department of Justice. The agreement encompasses over 250 Section 515 prepayment cases pending before the Court involving approximately 800 properties ­ including this case. Plaintiffs formally submitted the agreement to defendant as an offer of settlement on August 23, 2006, after which status conferences with Judge Horn were held on August 25, 2006, September 27, 2006, October 19, 2006, and November 16, 2006. A further status conference is scheduled for December 8, File No. 05-1158 (Judge Thomas C. Wheeler)

Case 1:05-cv-01158-TCW

Document 16

Filed 12/01/2006

Page 2 of 2

2006, at which time the parties will inform Judge Horn as to the status of the approval process within the Department of Justice. Thus, the parties request that this matter continue to be stayed until the settlement agreement has been approved and executed by defendant. The parties will report to the Court once the approval process is complete.

Respectfully submitted, s/ Jeff H. Eckland JEFF H. ECKLAND Mark J. Blando, Of Counsel ECKLAND & BLANDO LLP 500 Lumber Exchange 10 South Fifth Street Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402 Telephone: (612) 236-0160 Facsimile: (612) 236-0179 Jerry W. Snider, Of Counsel William L. Roberts, Of Counsel FAEGRE & BENSON LLP 2200 Wells Fargo Center Minneapolis, MN 55402 Telephone: (612) 766-7000 Facsimile: (612) 766-1600 Attorneys for Plaintiffs Dated: December 1, 2006 Attorneys for Defendant Filed Electronically with the consent of the Attorney for Defendant PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General s/ David M. Cohen DAVID M. COHEN Director s/ Shalom Brilliant SHALOM BRILLIANT Senior Trial Counsel Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice 1100 L Street, N.W. Attn: Classification Unit Room 8012 Washington, D.C. 20530 Telephone: (202) 305-7561 Facsimile: (202) 305-7643

2