Free Motion for Extension of Time - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:04-cv-00471-EJD

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Filed 03/02/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ______________________________________________ ) J.H. PARKER CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, INC. ) ) Case No. 04-471C Plaintiff, ) (Chief Judge Damich) ) v. ) ) THE UNITED STATES, ) ) Defendant. ) ______________________________________________) PLAINTIFF'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME Plaintiff, J.H. Parker Construction Company, Inc. ("Parker"), respectfully requests that the Court grant an enlargement of time of 90 days to all dates in the current schedule. The current schedule is set forth in the Court's September 13, 2005 and February 23, 2006 Orders. This is the second motion for this purpose. The first motion was filed, unopposed, by the Government on or about September 8, 2005. Counsel for the Defendant, the United States (the "Government"), has authorized counsel for Parker to represent that the Government does not oppose this motion. The parties have been working to produce all of the documents requested in the discovery process. However, at this time, both parties are still locating and producing additional

documents. The Government has issued a number of document production subpoenas to third parties, which has caused additional documents to be produced to the Government, and subsequently, to Parker. Mr. John Parker, the principal of J.H. Parker Construction Company, Inc., has been heavily involved in relief efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi resulting from Hurricane Katrina. Additionally, as a result of Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Parker relocated all of Parker's documentation relating to this Project from Natchez, Mississippi to Jackson,

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Mississippi.

As a result of Mr. Parker's relief efforts and the organizational difficulties

associated with relocating all of his files, Parker is still in the process of producing all of its documents to the Government. Subsequent to the Court's February 23, 2006 Order, the Government provided Parker, for the purposes of promoting settlement between the parties, with additional information concerning the Government's theory of the case. Parker is currently in the process of evaluating this information. Although construction of the dam at issue in this contract is not yet complete, this information and the continuing production of documents will affect a possible settlement of all issues, including damages. Finally, counsel for Parker is litigating a matter in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (the "Rocket Docket"). The trial for that case has been set by Judge Brinkema for April 3-7, 2006. Based on the current schedule, discovery for the Parker matter would be in direct conflict with the trial dates set by the District Court. Prior to Judge Brinkema setting the trial date for the first week of April, counsel for Parker and the Government had discussed scheduling a number of depositions during the last week of March and the first three weeks of April. Accordingly, an enlargement of time to all of the dates in the current schedule is needed. The parties are endeavoring to complete discovery in a timely manner and to resolve this case as soon as possible. Accordingly, we respectfully request the following schedule: 1. The parties shall complete all fact discovery by July 12, 2006. All requests pursuant to RCFC 31, 33, 34 and 36 that are served after June 11, 2006 shall be deemed untimely.

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2.

The party with the burden of proof regarding an issue shall disclose its testifying experts and RCFC 26(a)(2) information by July 27, 2006.

3.

The parties shall disclose all rebuttal experts and RCFC 26(a)(2) information by August 28, 2006.

4. 5.

The parties shall complete all expert discovery by September 12, 2006. A status conference shall be held on or about October 10, 2006 to discuss the status of the case, and to establish any necessary pre-trial schedule.

We also request that in lieu of the March 20, 2006 Joint Status Report, a telephonic status conference be held between the parties and the Court on Friday, March 3 or Monday, March 6, 2006 to discuss the issues raised in this Unopposed Motion for an Enlargement of Time and any other issues on which the Court wishes to hear from the parties.

DATED:

March ___, 2006.

Respectfully submitted, J.H. PARKER CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, INC. By Counsel,

Carter B. Reid (VSB No. 27192) Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, L.L.P. 8405 Greensboro Drive, Suite 100 McLean, Virginia 22102 Phone: (703) 749-1000 Fax: (703) 893-8029

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on March ____, 2006, a true and correct copy of the foregoing Plaintiff's Unopposed Motion for an Enlargement of Time 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/ Carter B. Reid

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