Free Response to Motion - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:04-cv-00473-MBH

Document 21

Filed 09/07/2004

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS M.G. CONSTRUCTION, INC., Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 04-00473 (Judge Horn)

DEFENDANT'S RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO COMPEL PRODUCTION Pursuant to Rules of the Court of Federal Claims ("RCFC") 7.1 and 26, defendant, the United States respectfully submits the following response to plaintiff's motion to compel production. Plaintiff, M.G. Construction, Inc., previously served us with discovery requests. We informed plaintiff's counsel, Mr. Joseph A. Yazbeck, that, under our understanding of RCFC 26(d), parties were not supposed to propound discovery requests until a Joint Preliminary Status Report ("JPSR") had been filed and the Court set a discovery schedule. Plaintiff's counsel did not dispute our interpretation of the rules of this Court. However, it has now filed a Motion to Compel Production even though the parties have not agreed upon a JPSR which will lead to the establishment of a discovery schedule. We expect that the parties will be able to file a JPSR by September 13, 2004. Our interpretation of RCFC 26(d) is that discovery requests prior to the filing of a JPSR and the establishment of a discovery schedule is improper. For these reasons, we ask that this Court deny plaintiff's motion to compel production.

Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER

Case 1:04-cv-00473-MBH

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Filed 09/07/2004

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Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director s/ James M. Kinsella JAMES M. KINSELLA Deputy Director s/ James D. Colt JAMES D. COLT Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20530 Tel: (202) 514-7300 Fax: (202) 307-0972 Attorneys for Defendant

September 7, 2004

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Case 1:04-cv-00473-MBH

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Filed 09/07/2004

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on this 7th day of September, 2004, a copy of the foregoing DEFENDANT'S RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO COMPEL PRODUCTION was filed electronically. I understand that notice of this filing will be sent to all parties of record by operation of the Court's electronic filing system. Parties may access this filing through the Court's system. s/ James D. Colt