Free Status Report - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:05-cv-00604-MBH

Document 20

Filed 11/17/2005

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS

SCOTT TIMBER CO., Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant.

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No. 05-604C (Judge Horn)

DEFENDANT'S STATUS REPORT REGARDING THE POSSIBILITY OF SETTLEMENT Pursuant to the Court's November 15, 2005 order, defendant submits this status report to inform the Court of the possibility of settlement in this case. Defendant believes there is a real possibility of settlement in this case and is willing to engage in settlement discussions. For those discussions to be meaningful, however, the Government requires information relating to and supporting plaintiff's alleged damages. As such, the Government requests that the Court allow it to engage in limited discovery on the issue of damages, which would include, but may not be limited to, the factual basis for plaintiff's allegation that it is entitled to damages in the amounts of $347,477 and $83,418; what, if any, actions plaintiff took to mitigate its damages during the time of the suspension; details regarding plaintiff's alleged liability to Roseburg Forest Products; factual support for plaintiff's allegation that it will not fully amortize its road construction costs on the Backwoods Thin timber sale; and details regarding plaintiff's operations at the time of the suspension and once the suspension was lifted.

Case 1:05-cv-00604-MBH

Document 20

Filed 11/17/2005

Page 2 of 2

This information will enable the Government to engage in meaningful and efficient settlement discussions with the plaintiff. As such, we respectfully request that the Court allow limited discovery on the issue of damages for the purposes of settlement discussions.

Respectfully submitted,

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

November 17, 2005

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