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

Case 1:05-cv-00840-MMS

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS FISHERMAN'S HARVEST, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant, v. WEEKS MARINE, INC., Intervenor-Defendant. § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §

NO. 05 -840 C and NO. 05-1044 C (CONSOLIDATED) (Chief Judge Damich)

JOINT STATUS REPORT 1.0 Pursuant to this Court's Opinion and Order dated November 28, 2006, the parties

respectfully submit this Joint Status Report. 2.0 Status of Discovery. The parties have exchanged both written discovery requests

and discovery responses, including production of multiple documents. Defendant has several outstanding issues with plaintiffs' document productions. The parties anticipate the filing of additional written discovery once depositions have been taken. However, no oral depositions of any parties involved have been taken as of this date. Plaintiffs' depositions are currently scheduled for the second week of January, 2007 beginning on January 10, 2007, and the depositions of Weeks Marine, Inc.'s employees are scheduled for January 17, 2007. The United States has

filed a Motion for a Protective Order and is seeking to have the Plaintiffs depositions rescheduled to a mutually acceptable date. At this time, numerous additional depositions remain to be scheduled and conducted, including those of expert witnesses and corporate representatives. 3.0 The parties set forth the following joint proposed scheduling plan in accordance with

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this Court's Opinion and Order, dated November 28, 2006: i. Plaintiffs believe additional parties shall be joined by February 2, 2007. Intervenor-Defendant requests that the order denying joinder of Bertucci Contracting Corp. and Luhr Bros., Inc. be certified for appeal. ii. 1. Plaintiffs do not anticipate filing dispositive motions at this time, but reserve the right to do so after the completion of discovery. Intervenor-Defendant expects to file dispositive motions in this matter following additional discovery. Discovery should proceed on all issues and facts. Plaintiffs believe fact discovery should be completed by May 31, 2007. Intervenor-Defendant and the United States believe fact discovery should be completed by August 15, 2007. Plaintiffs believe that all parties should disclose their expert witnesses by February 16, 2007. Defendant and IntervenorDefendant maintain Plaintiffs should disclose their expert witnesses by April 15, 2007, and Defendants should disclose their expert witnesses by May 15, 2007. Plaintiffs believe all parties should offer their expert witnesses for deposition by March 30, 2007. IntervenorDefendant and the United States assert Plaintiffs should offer their expert witnesses for deposition by May 15, 2007 and Defendants should offer their expert witnesses for deposition by June 15, 2007. 5. Plaintiffs believe all expert discovery should be completed by May 31, 2007. Intervenor-Defendants and the United States propose that all expert discovery should be completed by August 15, 2007. Plaintiffs believe no physical or mental examinations of the parties will be requested. Intervenor-Defendant expects to conduct mental and physical examinations of the Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs believe all discovery should be completed by May
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31, 2007. Defendant and Intervenor-Defendant propose that all discovery should be completed by August 15, 2007. 8. to iii. A pretrial status conference shall be held one (1) week prior the beginning of the trial setting in this case.

Plaintiffs believe June 11, 2007 is the earliest date at which this case can be expected to be ready for trial. Plaintiffs request a trial setting in June or July of 2007. Intervenor-Defendant believes the earliest date at which this case can be ready for trial is October 1, 2007. Intervenor-Defendant and the United States request a trial setting of October 15, 2007. This case can be tried in fifteen (15) business days. All parties agree that the place of trial should be in the Federal courthouse in Houston, Texas. Respectfully submitted, By:

iv. v.

s/David E. Bernsen
DAVID ERIC BERNSEN Southern District of Texas Bar No. 83425 Texas State Bar No. 02217500 LAW OFFICE OF DAVID E. BERNSEN, P.C. Post Office Box 822 Beaumont, Texas 77704 (409) 832-1957 (409) 832-2211 [FACSIMILE] [email protected] ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFFS, FISHERMAN'S HARVEST, INC., C. JOE NELSON, JR., DORIS MAE NELSON, VANESSA JO NELSON VALLEJO AND VICKIE JO NELSON SALAZAR AND A. MARK FAGGARD Texas State Bar No. 06772000 A. MARK FAGGARD, P.C. 550 Fannin Street, Suite 1141 Beaumont, Texas 77701
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(409) 835-4300 (409) 835-4335 [FACSIMILE] [email protected] OF COUNSEL TO ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFFS, FISHERMAN'S HARVEST, INC., C. JOE NELSON, JR., DORIS MAE NELSON, VANESSA JO NELSON VALLEJO AND VICKIE JO NELSON SALAZAR Respectfully submitted, By: /s/ Paul W. O'Finan PAUL W. O'FINAN Texas Bar No. 24027376 Federal ID No. 30719 9597 Jones Road #317 Houston, Texas 77065 Telephone No. (713) 202-1776 Telefacsimile No. (713) 683-1783 [email protected] ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFFS, CHILDRESS SEAFOOD, INC., W. F. CHILDRESS AND ALTON LEE KELLY AND Shannon T. Nash TOLLESON & NASH 26510 Keith Street Spring, Texas 77373 TEL: (281) 350-3900 FAX: (281) 350-9977 OF COUNSEL TO ATTORNEY OF RECORD FOR CHILDRESS SEAFOOD, INC., W. F. CHILDRESS AND ALTON LEE KELLY AND A. MARK FAGGARD Texas State Bar No. 06772000 A. MARK FAGGARD, P.C.
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550 Fannin Street, Suite 1141 Beaumont, Texas 77701 (409) 835-4300 (409) 835-4335 [FACSIMILE] [email protected] OF COUNSEL TO ATTORNEY OF RECORD FOR ALTON LEE KELLY AND By:/s/ Kenneth G. Engerrand________ Kenneth G. Engerrand Texas Bar No. 06619500 Allen D. Hemphill Texas Bar No. 00796740 1177 West Loop South, Tenth Floor Houston, Texas 77027-9007 713-629-1580 713-629-5027 Fax ATTORNEYS IN CHARGE FOR WEEKS MARINE, INC.

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Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director s/ Patricia M. McCarthy PATRICIA M. McCARTHY Assistant Director s/ David D'Alessandris DAVID D'ALESSANDRIS Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: (202) 307-1011 January 5, 2007 Attorneys for Defendant

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I HEREBY CERTIFY that on January 5, 2007, a copy of the above and 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 system. Parties may access this filing though the Court's system.

s/David E. Bernsen
DAVID ERIC BERNSEN E-mail: [email protected]

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