Free Joint Status Report - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:92-cv-00675-ECH

Document 280

Filed 03/02/2007

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS CHIPPEWA CREE TRIBE OF THE ROCKY BOY'S RESERVATION, et al., ) ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) ) THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Defendant. ) __________________________________________)

No. 92-675 L Judge Emily C. Hewitt March 2, 2007

JOINT STATUS REPORT This Joint Status Report is submitted pursuant to the Court's Order of February 16, 2007, ¶ 2. In support of this Joint Status Report, the parties submit the following: I. 1. BACKGROUND The Plaintiff Group ("Plaintiffs"), consisting of the beneficiaries of the 1964 and

1980 Pembina Judgment Fund ("PJF") Awards and their heirs, descendants, and successors-ininterest, and Defendant, the United States of America, are engaged in ongoing settlement negotiations with the objective of resolving Plaintiffs' PJF trust management claims. 2. Pursuant to the parties' discussions and previous Scheduling Orders of this Court,

on February 2, 2007, Plaintiffs submitted for Defendant's consideration a "1964 Award Economic Investment Model" ("1964 Model") calculating estimated damages for settlement purposes based on the Department of the Interior's management of the 1964 Award. Plaintiffs' 1964 Model and accompanying ten (10) exhibits were prepared by Plaintiffs' expert, Kevin Nunes of Rocky Hill Advisors, Inc. 3. At in-person settlement discussions held on February 12-13, 2007, in Washington, -1-

Case 1:92-cv-00675-ECH

Document 280

Filed 03/02/2007

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D.C., Defendant requested copies of the ten exhibits to the 1964 Model in their "native format," i.e. in the form of an Excel or Access spreadsheet file as compiled and utilized by Plaintiffs' expert in preparing his economic damages calculations. 4. On February 20, 2007, Plaintiffs submitted to Defendant a revised version of the

1964 Model, to reflect a revised date of a single baseline transaction as agreed to by the parties for settlement economic modeling purposes during the February 12-13, 2007 meeting, after Plaintiffs had reviewed additional supporting documentation for the transaction that was provided by Defendant. II. 1. SPECIFIC MATTERS ADDRESSED IN FEBRUARY 16, 2007 ORDER On February 16, 2007, Plaintiffs provided Defendant with Exhibits 1 and 7 to the

1964 Model in "native format" and with Exhibits 1, 2 and 3 to Plaintiffs' "Revised Supporting Documentation Request" for the 1980 Award in "native format." 2a. Plaintiffs now have agreed to produce to Defendant Exhibits 2-6 and 8-10 to the

1964 Model in "native format" subject to the entry of an appropriate Confidentiality Order. As previously reported to the Court in Joint Status Reports and in Status Conferences, the parties are in agreement that there is a need for an overall Confidentiality Order to best protect continuing settlement negotiations and the materials exchanged or provided to the opposing party over the course of settlement negotiations in this case. Accordingly, the parties will submit for the Court's approval a proposed Confidentiality Order governing settlement negotiations generally, which encompasses the exchange and use of expert and other materials exchanged or provided for settlement purposes. The parties have begun drafting a proposed Confidentiality Order and anticipate filing a joint stipulation for the approval of the Confidentiality Order on or before -2-

Case 1:92-cv-00675-ECH

Document 280

Filed 03/02/2007

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March 14, 2007. 2b. Defendant will provide Plaintiffs with data regarding the 1980 Award for the time

period from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 2006 on or before March 21, 2007. Respectfully submitted on this 2nd day of March, 2007. /s/ Melody L. McCoy MELODY L. MCCOY Attorney of Record for Plaintiffs Native American Rights Fund 1506 Broadway Boulder, CO 80302 Tel: (303) 447-8760 Fax (303) 443-7776 /s/ Carol L. Draper CAROL L. DRAPER Attorney of Record for Defendant United States Department of Justice Environment & Natural Resources Division Natural Resources Section P.O. Box 663 Washington, D.C. 20044-0663 Tel: (202) 305-0465 Fax: (202) 353-2021 Of Counsel: Elisabeth C. Brandon Department of the Interior Office of the Solicitor

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