Free Joint Status Report - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:05-cv-00179-TCW

Document 44

Filed 02/29/2008

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS

SWANSON GROUP, INC., Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES,

Defendant.

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Case No. 05-179C (Judge Wheeler)

JOINT STATUS REPORT Pursuant to telephone conversations by plaintiff's counsel with chambers, the parties submit the following joint report on the status of settlement negotiations.

On June 11, 2007, the Court granted the parties' request that discovery in this case be stayed until July 20, 2007 while the parties engaged in settlement discussions. On June 8, 2007, plaintiff submitted a counter settlement proposal to defendant's settlement proposal dated May 22, 2007. On July 17, 2007, plaintiff received another settlement proposal from defendant. On August 20, 2007, counsel of record for the government was provided with a letter from plaintiff raising certain apparent clerical and computational errors pertaining to the government's last substantive communication with counsel for Swanson regarding possible settlement of this action. By letter dated November 13, 2007, and forwarded to plaintiff on November 14, 2007, the government responded in part to issues raised in the letter of August 20, 2007. On November 28, 2007, plaintiff provided a settlement proposal to defendant to which defendant responded on December 17, 2007. Plaintiff responded to defendant's proposal on January 7, 2008, and

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Case 1:05-cv-00179-TCW

Document 44

Filed 02/29/2008

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Defendant submitted a counter offer on February 8, 2008. That same day plaintiff inquired as to whether or not the government would pay interest under the Contract Disputes Act on its counter offer as plaintiff had specified was necessary in each of its settlement proposals. To date, however, the government has not answered that question, which remains of crucial importance to plaintiff.

As set forth in previous status reports, the settlement process in this case is somewhat complicated because the parties have combined their efforts to settle this case with their efforts to settle two other Swanson Group timber sale suspension cases pending in this Court before Judge Smith (Swanson Group, Inc. v. United States, COFC Nos. 170C and 171C). Both Swanson and the United States would like to reach agreement on a global settlement including all three Swanson cases. The government's offer of February 8, 2008, also pertained to the two cases before Judge Smith, and Judge Smith has now ordered the government to state, on or before March 7, 2008, whether or not the government will pay CDA interest on its offer. Accordingly, the parties respectfully request that the Court enter an Order to provide that discovery in this case should continue to be stayed and that the parties shall file a joint status report on or before March 7, 2008 informing the Court as to the status of settlement negotiations.

Respectfully submitted,

s/Gary G. Stevens SALTMAN & STEVENS P.C. 1801 K Street, N.W. Suite M110 Washington, D.C. 20006 (202) 452-2140

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Case 1:05-cv-00179-TCW

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Filed 02/29/2008

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Counsel for Plaintiff

PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General JEANNE E. DAVIDSON Director s/Bryant G. Snee BRYANT G. SNEE Deputy Director

OF COUNSEL: MARCUS WAH Senior Attorney USDA-OGC, Pacific Region

s/Joan M. Stentiford JOAN M. STENTIFORD 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) 616-0341 Fax: (202) 514-8624 Counsel for Defendant

Dated: February 29, 2008

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