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

Case 1:05-cv-00143-EJD

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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 April 17, 2006, setting forth the status of settlement discussions including a discussion of the dates we have met, the individuals present, and the progress made. Since the filing of our previous status report, the parties have continued to discuss possible settlement. On May 5, 2006,

Alan Kaufman, counsel for plaintiffs, and David Stinson, counsel for defendant, held a settlement conference via telephone wherein Mr. Kaufman provided a response to the Government's countersettlement offer of April 12, 2006. Subsequent to plaintiffs' May 5, 2006 response, Mr. Stinson and Patricia Armstrong, counsel for the Department of the Interior, held several telephonic conferences to discuss plaintiffs' current offer. In addition, on May 11, 2006, Mr.

Stinson and Ms. Armstrong met with the Chief of the United States Park Police to discuss plaintiffs' current offer.

Case 1:05-cv-00143-EJD

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On May 23, 2006, Messrs. Stinson and Kaufman held a telephonic conference to discuss the Government's response to plaintiffs' current offer and to arrange a settlement meeting in Albany, New York. Because of scheduling conflicts, Messrs.

Stinson and Kaufman were unable to meet prior to the date for filing of this status report and, accordingly, on May 30, 2006, Messrs. Stinson and Kaufman, and Ms. Armstrong, held a telephonic settlement conference. During that telephonic conference, the

Government presented Mr. Kaufman with a counter-settlement offer to plaintiffs. Additional discussions are anticipated.

The parties respectfully request that all proceedings continue to be stayed for an additional period of 45 days to allow the parties sufficient time to concentrate upon possible resolution of this case. If the parties have not resolved this

matter within 45 days from the date of the order granting a stay of proceedings, the parties request permission to file a joint status report with the Court every 45 days, until resolution of the case or until the stay of proceedings is lifted.

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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

JUNE 1, 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 June 1, 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