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

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ERNEST LONG, Et Al., Plaintiffs, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 05-143C (Chief Judge Damich)

JOINT STATUS REPORT Defendant, the United States, and plaintiffs Ernest Long, et al., respectfully submit the following status report pursuant to the Court's orders dated March 3, 2006, and June 5, 2006, setting forth the status of settlement discussions including a discussion of the dates we have met, the individuals present, and the progress made. In our previous joint status report, the parties informed the Court that, just prior to the filing of the report, on May 30, 2006, David Stinson, counsel for defendant, Alan Kaufman, counsel for plaintiffs, and Patricia Armstrong, agency counsel, held a telephonic settlement conference during which the Government presented Mr. Kaufman with a counter-settlement proposal to plaintiffs. Subsequent to that conversation, on June

6, 2006, Messrs. Stinson and Kaufman held a telephone conference wherein plaintiffs submitted to the Government a countersettlement proposal. On June 8, 2006, counsel for defendant conveyed plaintiffs' counter-settlement proposal to counsel for the agency. Counsel

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for the agency then conveyed plaintiffs' counter-settlement proposal to the Chief of the United States Park Police. The

parties agreed that a face-to-face meeting was necessary so that the parties could discuss the remaining issues and, hopefully, make sufficient progress towards resolution of this case. Because of the conflicting schedules of the parties, the first mutually agreeable date wherein counsel for defendant, counsel for plaintiffs, and agency counsel could meet was July 14, 2006. Accordingly, on July 14, 2006, counsel for defendant and agency counsel traveled to Albany, New York, for a settlement conference. At that conference, the Government submitted its final counter-settlement proposal, which counsel for the plaintiffs now is discussing with his clients. Both parties believe that

significant progress has been made towards possible settlement of this action. It is anticipated that counsel for plaintiffs will In the

have plaintiffs' response within the next two weeks.

event the parties are able to establish proposed terms of a settlement, additional time then will be necessary for counsel for defendant to submit the proposed settlement to Department of Justice officials for a decision. The parties are mindful of this Court's Special Procedures Order, and in particular paragraph 4.b, concerning stay of proceedings. Because the parties believe that significant

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progress towards possible settlement has been made, and believe that a final determination regarding settlement will be made within the next 30 days, the parties respectfully request that all proceedings continue to be stayed for an additional period of 30 days to allow the parties sufficient time to concentrate upon possible resolution of this case. If the parties have not

resolved this matter within 30 days from the date of the order granting a continued stay of proceedings, the parties request permission to file a joint status report on August 16, 2006, informing the Court regarding the parties' efforts towards settlement or recommending further proceedings.

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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 OF COUNSEL: PATRICIA ARMSTRONG Office of the Solicitor Department of the Interior s/ David B. Stinson DAVID B. STINSON Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor, 1100 L St. Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: (202) 307-0163 Fax: (202) 514-8624 Attorneys for Defendant

JULY 17, 2006

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s/ Robert A. Jones Robert A. Jones Chamberlain, Kaufman & Jones 35 Fuller Road Albany, New York 12205 Tele: (518) 435-9426 Fax: (518) 435-9102 Attorneys for Plaintiffs

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on July 17, 2006, a copy of the foregoing "JOINT STATUS REPORT" 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. may access this filing through the Court's system. s/ David B. Stinson DAVID B. STINSON Parties