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

Case 1:01-cv-00254-BAF

Document 112

Filed 12/17/2007

Page 1 of 4

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS

CONSOLIDATION COAL COMPANY, ET AL., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant. _________________________________________ WELLMORE ENERGY CO., LLC, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant. No. 01-442C Judge Futey No. 01-254C Judge Futey

JOINT STATUS REPORT Pursuant to this Court's Order dated October 25, 2007, the parties respectfully submit this joint status report. During the last status conference, the parties agreed that no further formal discovery was anticipated. The parties agreed that the four remaining test plaintiffs would provide additional documentation to defendant and that the Office of Surface Mining ("OSM") auditors would review and consider that information. On December 10, counsel for the plaintiffs notified defendant's counsel that additional documentation would be forthcoming. On December 12, some of that documentation was sent to the OSM auditors for consideration of the claims of two of the

Case 1:01-cv-00254-BAF

Document 112

Filed 12/17/2007

Page 2 of 4

test plaintiffs, Pioneer Fuel Corp. and Kingston Resources, Inc. Plaintiffs anticipate that they may produce additional documentation supporting their claims in early to midJanuary. As a result, additional time will be needed for the OSM auditors to review and consider the documentation. Additionally, because documents are still being produced, counsel for the parties have not agreed upon any joint stipulations of fact, although they anticipate that they may be able to stipulate to some transactions. In the last order, the Court requested that the parties submit a proposed briefing schedule. In light of the fact that the plaintiffs still intend to produce additional documents, and that the auditors will require sufficient time to review that documentation, the parties propose the following briefing schedule: Pleading Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment Defendant's Response/Cross-Motion Plaintiff's Reply Defendant's Reply Deadline March 3, 2008 April 2, 2008 April 23, 2008 May 14, 2008

A hearing or oral argument, if needed, could be scheduled in late May.

2

Case 1:01-cv-00254-BAF

Document 112

Filed 12/17/2007

Page 3 of 4

Respectfully submitted, JEFFREY S. BUCHOLTZ Acting Assistant Attorney General JEANNE E. DAVIDSON Director s/Todd M. Hughes TODD M. HUGHES Deputy Director s/Tara K. Hogan TARA K. HOGAN Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit, 8th Floor 1100 L Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20530 Telephone: (202) 616-2228 Telecopier: (202) 305-7643

s/Steven H. Becker STEVEN H. BECKER PAUL A. HOROWITZ SUZANNE I. OFFERMAN Baker & McKenzie LLP 1114 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10036 Counsel for plaintiffs Consolidation Coal Co., et al.

s/John Y. Merrell, Jr. JOHN Y. MERRELL, JR. Merrell & Merrell, P.C. 1477 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 101 McLean, Virginia 22101 Counsel for plaintiff Wellmore Energy Co., LLC

Counsel for Defendant DANIEL W. KILDUFF U.S. Department of the Interior Office of the Solicitor Of Counsel

December 17, 2007

3

Case 1:01-cv-00254-BAF

Document 112

Filed 12/17/2007

Page 4 of 4

CERTIFICATE OF ELECTRONIC FILING I hereby certify that on this 17th day of December 2007, a copy of the foregoing "JOINT STATUS REPORT" 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. The parties may access this filing through the Court's System.

s/ Tara K. Hogan