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

Case 1:08-cv-00081-CFL

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Filed 07/01/2008

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS AEROPLATE CORP. Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 08-81C (Judge Lettow)

DEFENDANT'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR ENLARGEMENT OF TIME Pursuant to Rule 6(b)(1) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims, defendant, the United States, respectfully requests a 30-day enlargement of time, to and including August 6, 2008, within which to file its response to the amended complaint. Our response is currently due on July 7, 2008. This is defendant's third request for an enlargement of time. We previously obtained two enlargements for a total of 76 days. Plaintiff's counsel has authorized us to state that plaintiff will not oppose this motion. The enlargement is requested because defendant's trial counsel has not yet received a litigation report from the interested agency, the Bureau of the National Guard. As we explained in our first motion for an enlargement, the Department of Justice promptly sent a copy of the original complaint and a request for a litigation report to the Department of the Army. However, due to the unusual structure of the Bureau of the National Guard (a joint bureau of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force), there was a delay in identifying the legal office that will act as agency counsel in this case. The issue of which office will be acting as agency counsel has been resolved. The agency has assigned an attorney to prepare the litigation report and draft answer, and has given him instructions to make these tasks his first priority. The agency has committed to providing us the

Case 1:08-cv-00081-CFL

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Filed 07/01/2008

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litigation report and draft answer by no later than July 31, 2008. Upon receipt of the litigation report, we will need time to review the documents, analyze the issues raised by the complaint, and prepare a response to the complaint. We recognize that the preparation of the litigation report has taken an unusual amount of time. In order to prevent further delay, defendant's trial counsel will travel to California on July 2, 2008, in order to meet with agency counsel, interview witnesses, and inspect documents. In addition, the Government will agree to submit the joint preliminary status report within 14 days after the answer is filed, instead of the 49 days provided by Appendix A to the Rules of this Court. For the foregoing reasons, defendant respectfully requests that the Court grant this motion for an enlargement of time of 30 days, to an including August 6, 2008, within which to file a response to the amended complaint.

Respectfully submitted, GREGORY G. KATSAS Acting Assistant Attorney General JEANNE E. DAVIDSON Director s/ Kirk T. Manhardt KIRK T. MANHARDT Assistant Director

Case 1:08-cv-00081-CFL

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s/ Roger A. Hipp ROGER A. HIPP Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice 1100 L Street, N.W. Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor Washington, D.C. 20530 Tel: (202) 305-3091 Fax: (202) 514-8640 July 1, 2008 Attorneys for Respondent

Case 1:08-cv-00081-CFL

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Filed 07/01/2008

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on the 1st day of July, 2008, a copy of the foregoing "UNOPPOSED 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/ Roger A. Hipp