Free Motion for Extension of Time to Complete Discovery - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:05-cv-00551-LJB

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS HM2 CORPORATION, d/b/a HM2 CONSTRUCTORS AND FABRICATORS, Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 05-551C (Judge Bush)

DEFENDANT'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME Defendant, the United States, respectfully requests the Court to grant an enlargement of time of 153 days, to and including May 31, 2007, within which to complete discovery. Pursuant to the Preliminary Scheduling Order, dated January 5, 2006 ("Preliminary Order"), discovery is due to be completed on or before December 29, 2006. In addition, we respectfully

request that certain earlier deadlines be placed in a different order, as described below. This is our first request for an Counsel for plaintiff, HM2

enlargement of time for this purpose.

Corporation ("HM2") has authorized us to state that HM2 does not oppose this motion. Substantial progress has been made during discovery. large volume of documents have been exchanged. depositions have been taken. Several A

Interrogatories have been served, An audit by the

and some responses have also been served.

Defense Contract Audit Agency ("DCAA") has been requested, and will begin soon. However, much remains to be done in order to Counsel for the

prepare for an efficient and focused trial.

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parties have conferred, and have agreed that the United States should request the following schedule: February 28, 2007 March 31, 2007 May 31, 2007 Completion of all discovery except expert discovery. Service of all expert reports. Completion of expert discovery.

Pursuant to the Preliminary Order, expert reports were due before the close of fact discovery. We respectfully suggest that, in

this case, the experts will best be able to provide helpful reports if they have the opportunity to review all facts revealed during discovery ­ including facts established during deposition testimony. The full enlargement of time, to and including February 28, 2007, requested for fact discovery is needed. Counsel for HM2

estimates that HM2 will notice between 6 and 8 more depositions. Counsel for the United States estimates that the United States will notice between 3 and 6 depositions. In light of the other

obligations of counsel for the United States and counsel for HM2, it is extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible, to devote more than one week per month to this case. Thus, the parties

reasonably anticipate the completion of no more than 3 depositions per month. In addition, there are often scheduling

difficulties during the holiday season.

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The full enlargement of time, to and including May 31, 2007, requested for expert discovery is also needed. Time is needed to Time is

prepare reports after the completion of fact discovery. also needed for review of those expert reports, and for depositions of experts.

For the reasons stated above, we respectfully request that our unopposed motion for an enlargement of time be granted. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director S/ Kathryn A. Bleecker KATHRYN A. BLEECKER Assistant Director S/ James W. Poirier JAMES W. POIRIER Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor, 1100 L St, N.W Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: 202-307-6289 Fax: 202-514-7969 October 6, 2006 Attorneys for Defendant

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on October 6, 2006, a copy of the foregoing "DEFENDANT'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME" 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. the Court's system. S/ James W. Poirier Parties may access this filing through