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

Case 1:04-cv-00794-NBF

Document 28

Filed 09/15/2005

Page 1 of 3

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

04-794C (Judge Firestone)

JOINT STATUS REPORT Pursuant to the Court's orders dated June 17, 2005 and September 8, 2005, the parties respectfully submit this joint status report regarding the progress made toward informal resolution of this matter. The parties have conferred with Judge Bruggink, the ADR judge assigned to this case, regarding the protocol for these non-binding settlement proceedings. The parties agreed, with the concurrence of Judge Bruggink, that the Government is to be allowed to conduct an audit of SPW's claim and that the audit will be performed by the Defense Contract Auditing Agency ("DCAA"). After completion of the audit, the parties will again confer with Judge Bruggink regarding how best to proceed with settlement discussions. The DCAA auditor met with SPW's principle and his accountant at the end of July to conduct an initial entrance conference. During that conference, SPW provided the DCAA auditor with a revised claim submission and various support documentation. The DCAA reviewed these materials and responded to SPW with questions and additional document requests. SPW has advised that it will produce additional information in response to these requests by September 23, 2005. At that time, the DCAA will determine if there is a need for additional information or documents.

Case 1:04-cv-00794-NBF

Document 28

Filed 09/15/2005

Page 2 of 3

The DCAA auditor will be on previously scheduled leave for a significant portion of October, 2005. As a result, the auditor likely will be in a position to submit his final findings during the first week of November, assuming there are no unanticipated delays or issues. Accordingly, the parties respectfully request the Court to continue the current stay of proceedings to allow the DCAA time to complete its audit and to allow the parties time to complete settlement consultations and discussions with Judge Bruggink. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director /s/ Debra L. Brown DEBRA L. BROWN 22 Free Street, Suite 302 P.O. Box 373 Portland, ME 04112 (207) 774-7887 (Tel.) (207) 774-7557 (Fax) GEOFFREY T. KEATING McManus, Schor, Asmar & Darden, L.L.P. 1301 Connecticut Ave., NW Washington, DC 20036 (202) 296-9260 (Tel.) (202) 659-3732 (Fax) Attorneys for Plaintiff September 15, 2005 /s/ Deborah A. Bynum DEBORAH A. BYNUM Assistant Director /s/ Gregory T. Jaeger GREGORY T. JAEGER Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 353-7955 (Tel.) (202) 353-7988 (Fax) Attorneys for Defendant September 15, 2005

-2-

Case 1:04-cv-00794-NBF

Document 28

Filed 09/15/2005

Page 3 of 3

CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on September 15, 2005, 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. Parties may access this filing through the Court's system.

/s/ Gregory T. Jaeger