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

Case 1:98-cv-00154-JFM

Document 339

Filed 11/11/2004

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS YANKEE ATOMIC ELECTRIC COMPANY, Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 98-126C (Senior Judge Merow)

DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME1 Pursuant to Rule 6(b) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims ("RCFC"), defendant, the United States, respectfully requests an additional enlargement of time of five additional days, to and including November 17, 2004, within which to file its initial posttrial briefs and proposed findings of fact with the Court. Pursuant to this Court's order dated November 5, 2004, the parties' submissions are currently due to be filed on November 12, 2004. Although the submissions were originally due to be filed on October 15, 2004, the parties mutually agreed to enlargements through November 12, 2004, requests which the Court adopted. Counsel for plaintiffs informed us earlier today that the plaintiffs, Yankee Atomic Electric Company, Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company, and Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company (collectively, "the Yankees"), would oppose the Government's enlargement request. The Government requests this enlargement based upon the substantial amount of time needed to complete the post-trial findings. Not unexpectedly, the post-trial brief is extensive and the present draft of the proposed findings of fact arising out of the nearly eight-week trial are several hundred pages in length. In addition to the time-consuming process of drafting

The Government requests that this motion also be deemed applicable in Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co. v. United States, No. 98-154C, and Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co. v. United States, No. 98-474C.

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Case 1:98-cv-00154-JFM

Document 339

Filed 11/11/2004

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comprehensive proposed findings of fact and a post-trial brief, our internal review process and the review process at the Department of Energy ­ particularly given the length of the post-trial pleadings ­ necessitates an additional brief enlargement. As we have stated before, the preparation of the Government's briefing has required significantly more time than we had originally anticipated. Attorneys assigned to this matter have been working extensive hours in an attempt to complete comprehensive post-trial pleadings, including weekends and today's Federal holiday. Given the length of the trial in this matter, the number of issues that we need to address in our initial post-trial brief and in our proposed findings of fact, and, in particular, the extensive time that it is taking to sift through all of the evidence regarding damages and to prepare appropriate briefing and proposed facts, we have been unable to complete all necessary tasks, even though we have devoted significant time and attention to these matters. After the extensive trial in which the parties participated, we are hesitant prematurely to file briefing that we do not feel fully addresses all of the issues that have been raised in this litigation. We understand that counsel for plaintiff intends to oppose this enlargement request, but, given the difficult nature of attempting to correlate all the evidence introduced during the lengthy trial in this case, including deposition designations and other evidence that was not discussed during trial, the requested enlargement is necessary. We still firmly believe that, even with this enlargement, the currently scheduled date for closing arguments will not need to change, and we do not foresee that we will need to request any additional enlargements for the filing of this post-trial brief and proposed findings of fact. To allow us to complete the efforts that we need to complete to present a comprehensive post-trial

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Case 1:98-cv-00154-JFM

Document 339

Filed 11/11/2004

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brief and proposed findings of fact, we respectfully request that the Court grant an additional five days within which to submit those pleadings. For the foregoing reasons, we respectfully request that the Court grant this request for an enlargement of time. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General s/ David M. Cohen DAVID M. COHEN Director s/ Harold D. Lester, Jr. HAROLD D. LESTER, JR. Assistant Director Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: (202) 305-7562 Fax: (202) 307-2503 November 11, 2004 Attorneys for Defendant

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Case 1:98-cv-00154-JFM

Document 339

Filed 11/11/2004

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on this 11th day of November, 2004, a copy of foregoing "DEFENDANT'S 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/Harold D. Lester, Jr.