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

Case 1:98-cv-00614-JFM

Document 342

Filed 05/22/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY; ALABAMA POWER COMPANY; and GEORGIA POWER COMPANY, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 98-614C (Senior Judge Merow)

DEFENDANT'S CORRECTED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME TO FILE ITS POST-TRIAL BRIEF Pursuant to Rule 6(b) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims ("RCFC"), defendant, the United States, respectfully requests an enlargement of time of two days, to and including May 24, 2006, in which to file its post-trial brief. Our post-trial brief currently is due on May 22, 2006. The Court previously granted the Government's two motions for an enlargement of time of 21 days and three days, respectively, for this purpose. The Government filed this motion for an enlargement of time earlier today indicating that Government counsel has left a message for counsel for plaintiffs, M. Stanford Blanton, seeking plaintiffs' position regarding the motion, and that as of the filing of this motion, counsel for plaintiffs has not responded. However, the caption of the motion indicated that the motion was "unopposed," which was incorrect. The instant motion is precipitated by the time needed to complete the Government's internal review of its post-trial brief, complete the citations to the record and applicable case law, and finalize the necessary tables. Although counsel had expected that this review would be complete by today, counsel's supervisors have asked counsel to seek additional time so that this review may be completed. In addition, as the Court is aware, counsel for the Government in this

Case 1:98-cv-00614-JFM

Document 342

Filed 05/22/2006

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case is also preparing for a trial in another spent nuclear fuel case, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. United States, Nos. 04-0074C & 04-0075C (Fed. Cl.), which is scheduled to begin on June 5, 2006. On Saturday, May 20, 2006, the Court in that case issued an 11-page order identifying the topics to be discussed at the pre-trial conference scheduled for tomorrow, May 23, 2006. Because of the preparation necessitated by this order, counsel of record in this case has left the completion of the brief to other counsel, who require additional time to finalize the post-trial brief. To permit us an opportunity to complete that process, we respectfully request that the Court grant us an additional two days to complete and file our post-trial brief. The requested enlargement will not affect the closing arguments, currently scheduled for July 11, 2006. For the foregoing reasons, we respectfully request that the Court grant this request for an enlargement through and including May 24, 2006. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director

s/ Harold D. Lester, Jr. HAROLD D. LESTER, JR. Assistant Director

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Case 1:98-cv-00614-JFM

Document 342

Filed 05/22/2006

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OF COUNSEL: JANE K. TAYLOR Office of the General Counsel U.S. Department of Energy 1000 Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20585 STEPHEN FINN JOSHUA GARDNER HEIDE L. HERRMANN MARIAN E. SULLIVAN Trial Attorneys Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Washington, D.C. 20530 May 22, 2006 s/ John C. Ekman by Marian E. Sullivan JOHN C. EKMAN Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: (202) 353-0897 Fax: (202) 307-2503

Attorneys for Defendant

Case 1:98-cv-00614-JFM

Document 342

Filed 05/22/2006

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on this 22nd day of May, 2006, a copy of foregoing "DEFENDANT'S CORRECTED MOTION FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF TIME TO FILE ITS POST-TRIAL BRIEF" 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/ Marian E. Sullivan

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