Free Order on Motion for Miscellaneous Relief - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:98-cv-00614-JFM

Document 301

Filed 09/08/2005

Page 1 of 2

In the United States Court of Federal Claims
No. 98-614C (Filed September 8, 2005) ******************************* SOUTHERN NUCLEAR * OPERATING COMPANY, * ALABAMA POWER COMPANY, * GEORGIA POWER COMPANY, * * Plaintiffs, * * v. * * THE UNITED STATES, * * Defendant. * ******************************* ORDER Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Pre-Trial Conference on August 25, 2005, to which defendant filed a response on September 6, 2005. Since April 5, 2005, trial has been scheduled to commence on October 17, 2005, in Courtroom No. 5, at the National Courts Building, Washington, DC, and a pre-trial conference has been scheduled for October 12, 2005. Plaintiffs' motion seeks an earlier conference to vent their request for a change of venue and an opportunity to address several issues concerning the conduct of the upcoming trial. Defendant does not object to a separate, earlier conference to examine the administrative issues identified in plaintiffs' motion (as well as other matters identified in the response), but does oppose plaintiffs' request to move the trial, or portions thereof, from Washington, DC, to Birmingham, Alabama. Based on the earlier scheduling, the court had planned a work schedule for other pending deadline matters which will require access to chambers during the time period involved. For this reason, together with the problems cited by defendant and stilldeveloping concerns related to the impact and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina relative

Case 1:98-cv-00614-JFM

Document 301

Filed 09/08/2005

Page 2 of 2

to the federal courts in the Alabama area, the court is not inclined to move the scheduled location of the trial at this time. A conference prior to, and in addition to the conference now scheduled for October 12, 20051/ will be held at such time as counsel can be available. Counsel should promptly confer as to date(s) they can be available and notify Judicial Assistant Linda Eddins at (202) 357-6613 so that the conferences may be scheduled. Thursday, September 15th is suggested as a convenient date for the initial pre-trial conference. The court will be unavailable from September 19th through September 30th, while conducting a trial some distance from Washington, DC. Accordingly, it is ORDERED that plaintiffs' request to alter the trial location is DENIED, but the parties' requests for an additional and earlier pre-trial conference is GRANTED with the date to be established as set forth above.

s/ James F. Merow

James F. Merow Senior Judge

A court function has recently been rescheduled by the Chief Judge from October 6th to October 12th. If it will not inconvenience counsel, the pre-trial now scheduled for October 12th will be rescheduled for October 11th. -2-

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