Free Notice of Indirectly Related Case(s) - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:05-cv-00170-LAS

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Filed 06/07/2005

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS SWANSON GROUP, INC., Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 05-170C (Judge Smith)

NOTICE OF INDIRECTLY-RELATED CASES Pursuant to RCFC 40.2(b), notice is hereby given that Indirectly-Related cases are presently before the Court. The following cases present common issues of fact and law with the above-captioned matter, such that transfer or consolidation of these matters or adoption of a common discovery schedule would significantly promote the efficient administration of justice; that is, Scott Timber Co. v. United States, No. 05-604C (the Backwoods Thin timber sale) filed today should be transferred to Judge Smith and consolidated with the above-captioned case Swanson Group, Inc. v. United States, No. 05-170C and 05-171C (Swanson's consolidated Benchmark and Whitecap timber sale cases).

Each of the Indirectly-Related cases involve timber sale contracts with the United States Forest Service that are alleged to have been wrongly suspended in the wake of federal court rulings in Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Association v. National Marine Fisheries Service, No. 97-CV-775, 1998 WL 1988556, Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Association v. NMFS, 71 F. Supp.2d 1063 (W.D. Wash., No. C99-67R, 1999), Pacific Coast Federation of 1

Case 1:05-cv-00170-LAS

Document 10

Filed 06/07/2005

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Fisherman's Association v. NFMS, Case No. C00-1757R, and Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Association v. NFMS, 265 F.3d 1028 (9th Cir. 2001). In these related cases Judge Rothstein ruled that the biological opinions necessary for each of the Forest Service timber sales involved in the Indirectly-Related cases was invalid.

All of these Indirectly-Related cases involve the same standard Forest Service timber sale contract containing identical or substantially the same clauses. The Scott case (the Backwoods Thin timber sale) filed today involves the same Forest Service defendant as the Swanson Group cases. Plaintiff's counsel of record is the same in the Swanson Group cases and the Scott case.

The common legal issues in each of these Indirectly-Related cases referenced above and the instant case are (1) whether the Forest Service breached its implied duties to cooperate and not to hinder the contractor's performance, (2) whether the Forest Service breached certain express warranties under the contracts, (3) whether the Forest Service breached the timber sale contract by suspending the contract for an unreasonable amount of time, and (4) whether the Forest Service failed to compensate the plaintiff as required under clause C6.01 or CT6.01 (which is substantively the same as C6.01) of the standard Forest Service timber sale contract. Judicial economy and consistency of adjudication warrant the transfer and consolidation of these cases or adoption of a common discovery schedule in order to resolve common issues of law and fact.

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Case 1:05-cv-00170-LAS

Document 10

Filed 06/07/2005

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Respectfully submitted, s/Gary G. Stevens SALTMAN & STEVENS, P.C. 1801 K Street, N.W. Suite M-110 Washington, D.C. 20006 (202) 452-2140 Counsel for Plaintiffs OF COUNSEL: Alan I. Saltman William M. Jack SALTMAN & STEVENS, P.C. 1801 K Street, N.W. Suite M-110 Washington, D.C. 20006 (202) 452-2140 Dated: June 7, 2005

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