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

Case 1:05-cv-00841-LMB

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ______________________________________________________________________________

RIVERBANK ASSOCIATES, A California Limited Partnership

Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES

File No. 05-841 (Judge Lawrence M. Baskir)

Defendant. ______________________________________________________________________________ JOINT STATUS REPORT Pursuant to the Court's Order of October 7, 2005, the parties respectfully submit the following Joint Status Report to apprise the Court of the status of their continuing efforts to resolve this and numerous closely-related cases through the Court's Alternative Dispute Resolution ("ADR") pilot program. The parties continue to make significant progress in their efforts to settle this matter as well as hundreds of other related cases, and are hopeful that they are close to finalizing their negotiations. Counsel for the parties have held numerous conferences and meetings in recent months in an attempt to reach final agreement on various settlement terms. These discussions have included several face-to-face meetings among counsel for the parties in Washington, D.C. The parties have also conducted numerous, and at times daily, telephonic conferences and document exchanges throughout this time period. These meetings and conferences have included the active participation of numerous concerned parties, including several owner representatives, agency officials, and experts retained by both sides.

Case 1:05-cv-00841-LMB

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In connection with these discussions, the parties are drafting a proposed settlement agreement that would encompass not only the claims in this matter, but also potentially the claims of more than 600 plaintiffs in over 250 related cases pending before the Court. The parties are also in the process of developing numerous other documents and materials that would encompass the terms of their agreement, including procedures for determining market rents for each property and a software program that would be used to calculate damages for each plaintiff. The parties also continue to be greatly assisted in their efforts by the involvement of the Alternative Dispute Resolution judge, the Honorable Marian Blank Horn. The parties have held several lengthy in-person conferences with the ADR judge, and a further conference is scheduled to commence on May 8, 2006. It is the intention and desire of both parties to reach a final settlement plan in connection with the upcoming ADR conference. In sum, the parties believe that they have made substantial progress in their negotiations and desire to continue with their efforts to reach an amicable resolution of this matter and the many related cases pending before the Court.

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Case 1:05-cv-00841-LMB

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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 Mark D. Savin, Of Counsel FAEGRE & BENSON LLP 2200 Wells Fargo Center Minneapolis, MN 55402 Telephone: (612) 766-7000 Facsimile: (612) 766-1600 Attorneys for Plaintiffs Dated: May 1, 2006 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 Attorneys for Defendant

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