Free Motion to Amend Schedule - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:03-cv-00600-EJD

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ) CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX ) TRIBE, et al., ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) ) THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Defendant. ) )

Civil No. 03-600 L Chief Judge Edward J. Damich

JOINT STATUS REPORT AND JOINT MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF PRE-TRIAL AND TRIAL DATES

On May 21, 2007, the Court issued a Trial Preparation Order and an Order Setting Expert Discovery Schedule on Liability. Since that time, the parties have completed expert discovery and have commenced work on preparing this case for trial. Plaintiffs have produced extensive initial proposed findings of fact and the majority of the documents on their proposed list of trial exhibits. Plaintiffs are diligently working to produce the remaining documents on their proposed list of trial exhibits. In anticipation of the complete production of Plaintiffs' trial exhibits and as directed in the Court's Trial Preparation Order, Defendant has spent substantial time responding to and modifying Plaintiffs' proposed findings of fact, drafting Defendant's additional findings of fact, and preparing proposed trial exhibits. All of these activities can be completed relatively quickly once Plaintiffs' final production of exhibits is complete. Because of personnel changes experienced by counsel for both parties, the deadlines contained in the Court's Trial Preparation Order are proving to be more aggressive than the parties can attain. In June, an attorney for Plaintiffs who spent significant time in discovery and

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in preparation of this case for trial left the firm that represents Plaintiffs. Similarly, in early August, the sole paralegal assisting in the defense of this case left the Department of Justice to attend law school. In addition, lead counsel for the government has unexpectedly been required to take a reduced schedule as the result of responsibilities as care-giver for a family member. Also, the parties are carefully abiding by the Court's instruction in the Trial Preparation Order to "act in good faith to list all witnesses, exhibits, and objections in these `preliminary' exchanges." Trial Preparation Order at 1. The effort to include all facts, witnesses, and exhibits in the initial exchanges has required the commitment of substantial time and resources. Despite the parties' good faith efforts to complete all of the complex tasks contained in the Court's Trial Preparation Order, however, additional time will be required to prepare this case for trial. Moreover, an extended pre-trial schedule would provide the parties an opportunity to discuss whether some portion of this case is amenable to resolution without the need for further litigation. For the reasons stated above, the parties jointly request that the Court's Trial Preparation Order be amended and that the trial date be re-scheduled as follows:
Trial Prep. Order

Tasks Plaintiffs Complete Production of Proposed Trial Exhibits Defendant's (1) Response to Plaintiffs' Proposed Findings of Fact; (2) Proposed Additional Findings of Fact; (3) Witness List; (4) Exhibit List; (5) Exhibits

Date 09/13/2007 09/25/2007

2.a.i.(3) 2.a.ii.

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2.a.iii.

Plaintiffs' (1) Response to Defendant's Proposed Additional Findings of Fact; (2) Rebuttal Proposed Findings of Fact; (3) List of Rebuttal Witnesses; (4) List of Rebuttal Exhbits, with Explanation Meeting of Counsel (1) Joint Statement of Good Faith Conduct; (2) Joint Notice of Proposed Procedures for Sequestration; (3) Motions to Present Substantive Evidence by Way of Depositions; (4) Objections/Motions in Limine Regarding the Opposing Party's Witnesses and Exhibits (1) Objections to Motions to Present Substantive Evidence by Way of Depositions; (2) Joint Stipulation of Facts; (3) Joint Stipulation of Witnesses; (4) Joint Stipulation of Exhibits; (5) Findings of Fact Other than Stipulated Findings; (6)Final Witness Lists; (7) Final Exhibit Lists Plaintiffs' Memorandum of Fact and Law Defendant's Responsive Memorandum of Fact and Law Pre-trial conference Trial

10/16/2007

2.b. 2.c.i.

10/26/2007 11/16/2007

2.c.ii.

12/14/2007

2.c.iii.(1) 2.c.iii.(2)

01/18/2008 02/15/2008 Week of 03/17/2008 04/07/2008 to 04/18/2008

Dated: August 27, 2007.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Cris Palmer by /s/ Susan V. Cook J. CRISMAN PALMER 440 Mt. Rushmore Rd. P. O. Box 8045 Rapid City, SD 57709 Tele (605) 342-1078 Fax (605) 342-9503 [email protected] Counsel for Plaintiffs 3

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MATTHEW J. McKEOWN Acting Assistant Attorney General Environmental & Natural Resources Division /s/ Susan V. Cook SUSAN V. COOK, Senior Attorney JAMES D. GETTE, Trial Attorney Natural Resources Section Environment & Natural Resources Division United States Department of Justice P.O. Box 663 Washington, D.C. 20044 Tele (202) 305-0470 Fax (202) 305-0506 [email protected] Counsel for Defendant

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