Free Motion for Extension of Time - 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)

DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR ENLARGEMENT OF TIME Defendant respectfully requests the Court to enlarge by seven days, to and including December 12, 2005, the time within which it must serve its response to plaintiff's first set of interrogatories and requests for production of documents. Defendant's response is presently due on December 5, 2005. This

is defendant's first request for an enlargement of time for this purpose. Defendant attempted to contact plaintiff's counsel to

determine whether plaintiff opposes this motion, but was unable to reach plaintiff's counsel. Since receipt of plaintiff's discovery requests, Government counsel and agency personnel have devoted a significant amount of time to preparing the Government's response, and have made good progress toward completing our response. Agency counsel provided

Government counsel a draft response on November 28, 2005. Nonetheless, a significant amount of work remains to be done. The time requested is necessary for Government counsel to review the draft prepared by agency counsel, discuss it with agency counsel, prepare a draft response, and obtain supervisory and

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agency review.

The enlargement requested will not prevent the

Government from complying with the deadline for the exchange of documents that the parties proposed in the JPSR, December 31, 2005. The additional time requested for preparing and serving the Government's response is also necessary because, during the past several weeks, Government counsel has been required to devote substantial amounts of time to other matters pending before this Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, including: reviewing two draft expert reports in FSEC,

Inc. v. United States, No. 03-2152C (Fed. Cl.), a complex $7 million Government contract case, that were sent to plaintiff on November 4, 2005; preparing a status report in Nicon, Inc. v. United States, No. 99-982C (Fed. Cl.), which was filed on November 7, 2005; preparing document requests in SSA Marine, Inc. v. United States, No. 05-490C (Fed. Cl.), which were served on plaintiff on November 10, 2005; preparing to take, and taking, out-of-town depositions in FSEC, November 14-17, 2005; preparing the Government's reply brief in Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. United States, No. 04-254C (Fed. Cl.), which was filed, after two enlargements totaling 30 days, on November 16, 2005; preparing the Government's answer in BondCote Corporation v. United States, No. 05-891C (Fed. Cl.), which was filed, after a 30-day enlargement, on November 16, 2005; preparing the Government's

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brief in Jentoft v. United States, No. 05-5125 (Fed. Cir.), which was filed, after three enlargements totaling 72 days, on November 17, 2005; preparing for, and participating in, a status conference in BondCote, on November 22, 2005; preparing the Government's reply brief in Lechliter v. United States, No. 04-1729C (Fed. Cl.), which was due, after two enlargements totaling 51 days, on November 23, 2005; and drafting interrogatories in SSA Marine, which the Government anticipates serving upon plaintiff in the near future. In addition,

Government counsel was off for the Thanksgiving holidays on November 24-25, 2005. The additional time requested for filing the Government's response to plaintiff's discovery requests is also necessary because, during the next several weeks, Government counsel will be required to devote substantial amounts of time to other matters pending before this Court, including: finalizing

interrogatories in SSA Marine, which the Government anticipates serving upon plaintiff in the near future; submitting the paperwork to the judgment fund to effectuate the settlement in Nicon; attending an out-of-town meeting with agency personnel and expert consultants in FSEC, to prepare for settlement negotiations later in December, on November 30 and December 1, 2005; and preparing for settlement negotiations in FSEC, which are scheduled to occur December 13-15, 2005.

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For the foregoing reasons, defendant respectfully requests that the Court grant this motion for an enlargement of time. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director /s Bryant G. Snee BRYANT G. SNEE Assistant Director /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 OF COUNSEL: JOHN B. ALUMBAUGH PETER E. YOUNG U.S. Agency for International Development November 28, 2005

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NOTICE OF FILING I hereby certify that on November 28, 2005, a copy of the foregoing "DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR 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. system. Parties may access this filing through the Court's

/s Thomas D. Dinackus

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