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

Case 1:05-cv-00604-MBH

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS

) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) THE UNITED STATES, ) ) Defendant. ) ) ____________________________________)

SCOTT TIMBER CO.,

No. 05-604C (Judge Horn)

JOINT STATUS REPORT Pursuant to the Court's December 2, 2005 order, the parties submit this status report to inform the Court of the status of settlement discussions. Following the December 1, 2005 status conference with the Court, plaintiff provided documentation on its damages calculations to defendant on December 15, 2005, and again, on December 22, 2005. The parties agreed that defendant would review this information and that the parties would meet on January 12, 2006 at the offices of plaintiff's counsel to further discuss settlement. The parties held the meeting on January 12, 2006 at the offices of plaintiff's counsel. Present at that meeting for the defendant were defendant's counsel, Lindsay Williams, Senior Counsel for the United States Department of Agriculture's Office of General Counsel, Lori Polin Jones, and the defendant's accountant, Derk Rasmussen. Present at that meeting for plaintiff were plaintiff's counsel, Gary Stevens, Alan Saltman, and Will Jack. Plaintiff's accountant was available by phone to answer the government's questions. Additionally, plaintiff's Vice President for Resources, who possessed authority to settle, was available by phone.

Case 1:05-cv-00604-MBH

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The parties reviewed the December 15th and December 22nd documentation. During the meeting, defendant posed numerous questions that arose from its review of this documentation and made several requests for further documentation. At the meeting plaintiff's counsel provided a third set of documents to defendant and agreed to provide answers to defendant's questions which could not be answered at the meeting and to provide the additional documentation defendant requested. On January 13, 2006, defendant sent a letter to plaintiff confirming the documentation requested during the January 12, 2006 meeting, as well as requesting other information and documentation that would aid the government in its understanding of plaintiff's damage calculations. The parties are currently discussing and refining these additional requests. The parties continue to believe that settlement is a possibility in this case and that settlement proceedings should continue. Plaintiff believes that it can produce the requested information and documentation to defendant by March 1, 2006. Defendant will then complete its review of the information and documentation, inform plaintiff of any remaining areas of concern and the parties will conclude their exchange of information and documentation by April 12, 2006. The parties will then schedule a meeting, which will take place on or before May 10, 2006, at plaintiff's Roseburg, Oregon headquarters and will include representatives with authority to settle. The parties propose that they file a status report with the Court within 14 days after the meeting in Roseburg to inform the Court as to whether a settlement has been reached. Currently, the Court has set March 3, 2006, as the close of fact discovery on the issue of liability in this case.1 The Court has also scheduled a telephonic status conference for March 13, Defendant's responses to plaintiff's first set of interrogatories and requests for document production on the issue of liability were deferred pending the outcome of settlement discussions, by this Court's order of December 2, 2005.
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2006, at 10:30 a.m. EST to discuss further proceedings. The parties believe that the most efficient way to proceed in this case is to suspend discovery proceedings pending the outcome of the parties' meeting in Roseburg and the filing of their subsequent status report. Further, the parties respectfully request that the Court either maintain the March 13, 2006 status conference or allow the parties to file monthly status reports, so that the parties may inform the Court of the status of settlement proceedings. If the foregoing schedule and suspension of discovery is not acceptable to the Court, the parties request a status conference to discuss this matter. Respectfully submitted, s/Gary G. Stevens SALTMAN & STEVENS, P.C. 1801 K Street, N.W. Suite M-110 Washington, DC 20006 (202) 452-2140 Counsel for Plaintiff

PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director

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s/Kathryn A. Bleecker KATHRYN A. BLEECKER Assistant Director OF COUNSEL: MARCUS R. WAH Associate Regional Attorney USDA-OGC, Pacific Region s/Lindsay E. Williams LINDSAY E. WILLIAMS 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 Phone: (202) 353-7995 Fax: (202) 514-8624 Attorneys for Defendant

January 18, 2006