Free Response - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:05-cv-00490-TCW

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS SSA MARINE, INC., Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 05-490C (Chief Judge Damich)

JOINT RESPONSE TO COURT ORDER The parties submit this joint response to the Court's December 7, 2005 order. The parties jointly propose the following discovery schedule. 1. 2. Fact and expert discovery began on November 2, 2005. Initial disclosures under RCFC 26(a)(1) were exchanged on October 7, 2005. Document exchanges shall be completed by February 17, 2006. The audit process began on December 7, 2005, and shall be completed by February 28, 2006. The Government identified to plaintiff the auditor assigned to this matter on December 5, 2005. Fact discovery shall close on July 28, 2006. i. ii. Presumptive discovery limits will apply. The parties have not indicated the need for mental examinations of witnesses or physical examinations of subject property.

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Expert Discovery shall close on August 11, 2006. i. ii. Plaintiff shall identify its expert witness(es) by February 17, 2006. Defendant shall identify its expert witness(es) by March 3, 2006. (If defendant chooses to designate the DCAA auditor as an expert witness that designation shall be made no later than this March

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3, 2006 deadline.) iii. Should defendant designate the DCAA auditor as an expert, plaintiff shall have until March 24, 2006 to designate an additional expert witness if it so chooses. iv. Plaintiff shall provide Defendant with its expert report(s), which shall include the information required by RCFC 26(a)(2)(B), by April 21, 2006. Defendant shall provide plaintiff with its expert report(s), which shall include the information required by RCFC 26(a)(2)(B), by May 19, 2006. Plaintiff's expert(s) shall be available for deposition beginning on June 19, 2006.

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vii. Defendant's expert(s) shall be available for deposition beginning on July 17, 2006. 6. All discovery shall be completed by August 11, 2006, and a Joint Status Report shall be filed by August 25, 2006. A post-discovery telephonic status conference will be held on September 8, 2006 at 11:00 a.m. The parties shall contact Shirley Scott at (202) 357-6483 on the day before the conference with a telephone number where they can be reached at the time of the conference. The conference will be held off the record, unless the parties request otherwise five-days before the scheduled conference.

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Counsel have conferred regarding the scope of the audit and believe that the issue previously raised with the Court has been resolved. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director -2-

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/s Bryant G. Snee BRYANT G. SNEE Assistant Director /s John Butler JOHN BUTLER SHER & BLACKWELL 1850 M Street, N.W., Ste. 900 Washington, DC 20036 Tele: (202) 463-2510 Fax: (202) 463-4950 Attorneys for Plaintiff /s Thomas D. Dinackus THOMAS D. DINACKUS Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20530 Tele: (202) 307-6289 Fax: (202) 514-7969 Attorneys for Defendant DATED: December 19, 2005 DATED: December 19, 2005

OF COUNSEL: HEATHER M. SPRING Sher & Blackwell

OF COUNSEL: JOHN B. ALUMBAUGH PETER E. YOUNG U.S. Agency for International Development

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NOTICE OF FILING I hereby certify that on December 19, 2005, a copy of the foregoing "JOINT RESPONSE TO COURT ORDER" 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. system. /s Thomas D. Dinackus Parties may access this filing through the Court's

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