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

Case 1:98-cv-00484-JPW

Document 270

Filed 10/06/2006

Page 1 of 4

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS __________________________________________ ) NORTHERN STATES POWER COMPANY, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 98-484C ) (Senior Judge Wiese) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Defendant. ) __________________________________________) DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR ENLARGEMENT OF TIME Pursuant to Rule 6(b) of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims, defendant respectfully requests an enlargement of time of one business day, to and including October 10, 2006, within which to file its memorandum of contentions of fact and law. Defendant's memorandum of contentions of fact and law is currently due today, October 6, 2006. This is defendant's second request for an enlargement of time for this purpose, the Court having previously granted an enlargement of seven days. Counsel for plaintiff, Northern States Power Company ("NSP"), has indicated that NSP takes no position upon the Government's motion for enlargement. Earlier today, the Government filed its witness list, exhibit list, and response to plaintiff's designation of deposition testimony. Two days ago, on October 4, 2006, the Government filed two motions in limine. The Government does not intend to file any additional pretrial motions. Therefore, the only pretrial document that remains to be filed is the Government's memorandum of contentions of fact and law. The arguments that will be presented in the Government's memorandum were disclosed in the Government's expert reports, served upon NSP on July 11, 2006. No new arguments have been developed by the Government since that time, and we do not expect that any part of the Government's memorandum will surprise NSP.

Case 1:98-cv-00484-JPW

Document 270

Filed 10/06/2006

Page 2 of 4

The requested enlargement is necessary because the demands of trial preparation for this case, as well as other case commitments of Government counsel, have made it impossible for counsel to complete, obtain review, and file the Government's memorandum with the Court by the current deadline. The completion of the Government's memorandum has been delayed, in part, counsel for the Government traveled twice, during the last two weeks, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and once to Butler, Pennsylvania, to depose seven fact witnesses newly disclosed in plaintiff's pretrial filings. In addition, the supervisor of the attorneys assigned responsibility for preparing the Government's pretrial filings was out of the country and unable to review or approve draft filings from September 27 through October 4, 2006. Nevertheless, we had anticipated being able to file all of the required pretrial filings by today. Indeed, all of the other required filings have been completed. We simply require more time for the last remaining document. For the foregoing reasons, defendant respectfully requests that the Court grant the request for an enlargement of time of one business day, to and including October 10, 2006, within which to file its memorandum of contentions of fact and law. Respectfully submitted,

PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director

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Case 1:98-cv-00484-JPW

Document 270

Filed 10/06/2006

Page 3 of 4

s/Harold D. Lester, Jr. HAROLD D. LESTER, JR. Assistant Director OF COUNSEL: JANE K. TAYLOR Office of General Counsel U.S. Department of Energy 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20585 s/Heide L. Herrmann HEIDE L. HERRMANN Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice 1100 L Street, N.W. Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: (202) 305-3315 Fax: (202) 307-2503 Attorneys for Defendant

October 6, 2006

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Case 1:98-cv-00484-JPW

Document 270

Filed 10/06/2006

Page 4 of 4

CERTIFICATE OF FILING AND SERVICE I hereby certify that on this 6th day of October, 2006, a copy of foregoing "DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR 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/Heide L. Herrmann