Free Post Trial Brief - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:98-cv-00126-JFM

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TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE DISCUSSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 I. AS WE ESTABLISHED IN OUR PRIOR BRIEFING, THE YANKEES WERE REQUIRED TO ESTABLISH THAT, BUT FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S DELAY, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE INCURRED THEIR ALLEGED INJURIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 THE YANKEES' ASSERTION THAT THEY WERE REQUIRED TO BEGIN MITIGATING DAMAGES PRIOR TO THE GOVERNMENT'S PARTIAL BREACH OF CONTRACT LACKS SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 CONTRARY TO THE YANKEES' EXPRESSED CONCERNS, THE GOVERNMENT HAS REPEATEDLY EXPRESSED ITS POSITION THAT, IN A PARTIAL BREACH CASE, FUTURE DAMAGES ARE NOT IMMEDIATELY RECOVERABLE, BUT MAY BE RECOVERED IN FUTURE POST-INCURRENCE SUITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 THE TESTIMONY OF SCOTT VANCE WAS IMPROPER IMPEACHMENT TESTIMONY AND IS NOT ADMISSIBLE AS SUBSTANTIVE EVIDENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF'S STATEMENTS AT CLOSING ARGUMENTS REGARDING HIS OTHER CLIENTS LACKS EVIDENTIARY SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 CONTRARY TO THE YANKEES' CONTENTION UPON REBUTTAL, "OLDEST-FUEL-FIRST" IS THE CONTRACTUALLY MANDATED ACCEPTANCE SEQUENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 THE YANKEES HAVE FAILED TO ACCOUNT FOR THE EFFECT OF FAILED FUEL IN THEIR "BUT FOR" DAMAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 UNDER THE STANDARD CONTRACT, THE CONTRACTING OFFICER OBTAINS THE RIGHT TO DETERMINE THE SCHEDULE UPON WHICH DOE WILL ACCEPT THE CONTRACT HOLDER'S SNF, SUBJECT ONLY TO A REVIEW FOR ABUSE OF DISCRETION . . . . 20

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TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont'd) PAGE IX. THE YANKEES FAILED TO ESTABLISH ANY BASIS FOR THEIR CLAIM OF A BREACH OF THE DUTY OF GOOD FAITH AND FAIR DEALING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

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Am-Pro Protective Agency, Inc. v. United States, 281 F.3d 1234 (Fed. Cir. 2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Arnone v. Chrysler Corp. 148 N.W.2d 902 (Mich. Ct. App. 1967) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 California Federal Bank v. United States, 395 F.3d 1363 (Fed. Cir. 2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 19 Centex Corp. v. United States, 395 F.3d 1283 (Fed. Cir. 2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 23 Chain Belt Co. v. United States, 115 F. Supp. 701 (Ct. Cl. 1953) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Cities Service Helex, Inc. v. United States, 543 F.2d 1306 (Ct. Cl. 1976) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 City of Fairfax, Va. v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 582 F.2d 1321 (4th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 914 (1979) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 7 Danzig v. AEC Corp., 224 F.3d 1333 (Fed. Cir. 2000), cert. denied, 532 U.S. 995 (2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 DeBiasio v. Illinois Central Railroad, 52 F.3d 678 (7th Cir. 1995) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Dingley v. Oler, 117 U.S. 490 (1886) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Franconia Associates v. United States, 536 U.S. 129 (2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 6 Frass Surgical Manufacturing Co. v. United States, 571 F.2d 34 (Ct. Cl. 1978) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Hansen Bancorp, Inc. v. United States, 53 Fed. Cl. 92 (2002), vacated and remanded on other grounds, 367 F.3d 1267 (Fed. Cir. 2004) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 iii

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Haynes v. United States, 61 Fed. Cl. 788 (2004) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495 (1947) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Indiana Michigan Power Co. v. United States, 60 Fed. Cl. 639 (2004), appeal pending, No. 04-5122 (Fed. Cir.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 10 J.D. Hedin Construction Co. v. United States, 197 Ct. Cl. 782, 456 F.2d 1315 (1972) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Kaiser v. Northwest Shopping Center, Inc., 587 S.W.2d 454 (Tex. Civ. Ct. 1979) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Koppers Co. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 98 F.3d 1440 (3d Cir. 1996) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 LaVan v. United States, 382 F.3d 1340 (Fed. Cir. 2004) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Lovink v. Guilford Mills, Inc., 878 F.2d 584 (2d Cir. 1989) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Lucente v. International Bus. Machines Corp., 310 F.3d 243 (2d Cir. 2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Martinez v. Union Pacific R.R. Co., 82 F.3d 223 (8th Cir. 1996) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 McDonnell Douglas Corp., ASBCA No. 26747, 83-1 BCA ¶ 61,377 (1983) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Myerle v. United States, 33 Ct. Cl. 1 (1897) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

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Pinewood Realty Ltd. Partnership v. United States, 617 F.2d 211 (Ct. Cl. 1980) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 PVI, Inc. v. Ratiopharm, 253 F.3d 320 (8th Cir. 2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Rapid City Indian Health Advisory Board of Directors, ASBCA No. 26641, 83-1 BCA ¶ 16,311 (1983) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Reynolds v. United States, 158 F. Supp. 719 (Ct. Cl. 1958) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Robinson v. United States, 305 F.3d 1330 (Fed. Cir. 2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Roboserve, Inc. v. Kato Kagaku Co., 78 F.3d 266 (7th Cir. 1996) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Roehm v. Horst, 178 U.S. 13 (1900) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 S&R Corp. v. Jiffy Lube International, Inc., 968 F.2d 371 (3d Cir. 1992) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 San Carlos Irrigation & Drainage District v. United States, 23 Cl. Ct. 276 (1991), aff'd, 111 F.3d 1557 (Fed. Cir. 1997) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Southern Pacific Co. v. Darnell-Taenzer Lumber Co., 245 U.S. 531 (1918) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Sterkel v. Fruehauf Corp., 975 F.2d 528 (8th Cir. 1992) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Thomas A. Yoder Co., VABCA No. 997, 74-1 BCA ¶ 10,424 (1974) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Tretchick v. Department of Transportation, 109 F.3d 749 (Fed. Cir. 1997) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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United States v. DeKonty 922 F.2d 826 (Fed. Cir. 1991) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 United States v. Joseph A. Holpuch Co., 328 U.S. 234 (1946) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. United States, 676 F.2d 622 (Ct. Cl. 1982) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. United States, 88 F.3d 1012 (Fed. Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1116 (1997) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Wisconsin Power & Light Co. v. Century Indemnity Co., 130 F.3d 787 (7th Cir. 1997) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 MISCELLANEOUS Calamari & Perillo, Contracts § 12-11 (2d ed. 1977) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4 A. Corbin, Corbin on Contracts § 972 (1951) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 236 (1981) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 7 Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 251 (1981) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 253 (1981) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 7 Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 26 (1982) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 28 Am. Jur. 2d: Damages § 488 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

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