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

Case 1:98-cv-00815-CFL

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ATWOOD-LEISMAN, an Idaho general partnership, et al., Plaintiffs, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

98-815C (Judge Lettow)

JOINT MOTION FOR A SUSPENSION OF PROCEEDINGS Pursuant to Rules 1, 6.1, and 7(b) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims, defendant, the United States, and plaintiffs, Atwood-Leisman, et al., respectfully request that the Court suspend proceedings in this case for an additional 30 days, through and including December 20, 2006, to provide the parties time to finalize a potential settlement and, if appropriate, potential joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice. Previously, this Court suspended all pre-trial

deadlines through and including November 20, 2006. On September 11, 2006, plaintiffs provided the Government with a formal offer of settlement. On September 20, 2006, the

United States Department of Agriculture provided the Department of Justice with a letter regarding its position upon plaintiffs' offer of settlement. The parties are now in the process of

negotiating the terms of a potential settlement agreement, which would obviate the need for further proceedings before this Court and would result in the dismissal of this action with prejudice.

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With regard to terms of a potential settlement agreement, on September 22, 2006, counsel for the Government sent counsel for plaintiffs a draft, sample settlement agreement. On October 2,

2006, counsel for plaintiffs provided the Government with a revised, draft settlement agreement. Between October 6 and

October 26, 2006, agency counsel reviewed the proposed settlement agreement and provided counsel for the Department of Justice with substantial comments and recommended revisions. On November 9, 2006, counsel for the parties telephonically discussed and negotiated the language to be employed in the settlement agreement. In particular, the parties discussed the

scope of the settlement agreement and its relation to other pending cases involving the properties at issue in this case. addition, the parties discussed the need for, and extent to which, prior agreements entered into between the Government and plaintiffs were to be acknowledged and/or integrated in to the potential settlement of this case. On November 16, 2006, counsel In

for plaintiffs provided the Government with a revised proposed settlement agreement. On November 20, 2006, the parties, again,

telephonically discussed plaintiffs' revisions to the potential settlement agreement. At this time, the undersigned Government counsel is also concurrently seeking the necessary settlement authority to accept plaintiff's offer of settlement. A suspension of all remaining

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deadlines for an additional 30 days would allow time for the terms of a potential settlement agreement to be reached and finalized, and for both parties to execute a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice. If a potential settlement is not

finalized, the parties will file a joint status report with the Court by December 20, 2006, to apprise the Court of report on the status of the potential settlement. For the foregoing reasons, the parties respectfully request that the Court grant this joint motion to suspend proceedings in this case for 30 days, through and including December 20, 2006. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General /s/ David M. Cohen DAVID M. COHEN Director /s/ Michael S. Dufault MICHAEL S. DUFAULT Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 1100 L St., NW, 8th Floor Washington, D.C. 20530 Phone: (202) 353-7961 Facsimile: (202) 353-7988 Attorneys for Defendant

November 20, 2006

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Case 1:98-cv-00815-CFL

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/s/ Clayton Gill, Esq. C. CLAYTON GILL, Esq. Moffatt, Thomas, Barrett, Rock and Fields, Chartered 101 S. Capitol Blvd., 10th Floor Post Office Box 829 Boise, Idaho 83701 Attorney for Plaintiffs November 20, 2006

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on November 20, 2006, with the consent of counsel for plaintiffs, a copy of the foregoing "JOINT MOTION FOR A SUSPENSION OF PROCEEDINGS" was filed electronically. I

understand that notice of this 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/ Michael S. Dufault