Free Motion for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:05-cv-00217-LAS

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ARBITRAJE CASA DE CAMBIO, S.A. DE C.V., et al., Plaintiffs, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 05-217C (Senior Judge Smith)

DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR ENLARGEMENT OF TIME Pursuant to Rule 6(b)(1) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims ("RCFC"), defendant, the United States, respectfully requests a 14-day enlargement of time, to and including January 3, 2007, within which to file its reply to the opposition to our motion to dismiss filed by plaintiffs, Arbitraje Casa de Cambio, S.A. DE C.V., et al. ("Arbitraje"). Our response is currently due on December 20, 2006. This is

defendant's second request for an enlargement of time for this purpose. The undersigned has contacted counsel for Arbitraje who

states that, in light of the oral argument scheduled for January 5, 2006 (which was scheduled before the reply was due), his client consents to only a seven day enlargement of time. This motion is necessary so that the Government will have sufficient time to finish drafting, incorporate comments of agency counsel, and obtain review of our reply brief. Although

we recognize and sincerely regret that this motion is being filed

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just one day before our reply is due, the undersigned has been out of the country and unable to devote the required attention to our reply. Specifically, when the undersigned returned to the

office on the afternoon of December 12, 2006, she began work upon the three substantive briefs due between December 15, 2006 and December 21, 2006. Although counsel believed that it would be

possible to complete these briefs in a timely fashion, counsel has been unable to do so and requires additional time within which to complete our reply brief. In particular, in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, counsel has been engaged in preparation of the Government's brief in Giles v. United States, No. 06-5120, filed on December 6, 2006; and preparation of the Government's brief in Alpough v. Nicholson, No. 06-7304, due December 21, 2006 (previously enlarged from November 20, 2006). In the Court of International Trade, counsel has been engaged in preparation of the Government's response brief in Paul Muller v. United States, No. 04-522, filed on December 15, 2006. Also, counsel will be out of the office for the holiday from December 25, 2006 through January 1, 2007. For these reasons, we respectfully request that the Court grant this motion for an enlargement of time.

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Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director

s/ Mark A. Melnick MARK A. MELNICK Assistant Director

s/ Claudia Burke CLAUDIA BURKE Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L Street Washington, D.C. 20530 tel: (202) 353-9063 fax: (202) 307-0972 December 19, 2006 Attorneys for Defendant

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that on this 19th day of December, 2006, I filed electronically this "DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR ENLARGEMENT OF TIME", service of which will be electronically delivered to: Howard G. Slavit Saul Ewing 2600 Virginia Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037

s/ Claudia Burke