Free Status Report - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:03-cv-01798-EJD

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ___________________________________ ) AMERICAN RENOVATION AND ) CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, ) ) Case No. 03-1798C Plaintiff, ) (Chief Judge Damich) ) v. ) ) THE UNITED STATES, ) ) Defendant ) ___________________________________) JOINT STATUS REPORT COMES NOW the Plaintiff, American Renovation & Construction Company ("ARC" or "Plaintiff") and the Defendant, United States of America, by counsel, and pursuant to the Court's Order dated June 8, 2004, submit this Joint Status Report, stating as follows: 1. 2. 25, 2003. 3. 16, 2004. 4. Concurrent with the JPSR, on January 16, 2004, ARC also filed an The parties filed a Joint Preliminary Status Report ("JPSR") on January Plaintiff, ARC, filed the Complaint in this case on July 28, 2003. Defendant, the United States of America, filed its Answer on November

unopposed motion for leave to supplement the JPSR on or before March 31, 2004, with respect to the requirements of paragraphs 7(e) and 7(g) of the Court's Standard Special Procedures, pursuant to the parties' agreement to attempt a negotiated settlement (the "Motion").

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5.

On February 6, 2004, the Court granted ARC's Motion and ordered the

parties to file any amendments to the JPSR and/or a status report on or by March 31, 2004. 6. Representatives of the parties met on March 8, 2004 to discuss the

possibility of reaching a negotiated settlement. 7. On March 8, 2004, the parties agreed to exchange certain information

informally in order to facilitate further discussions. 8. On April 2, 2004, the Court granted ARC's unopposed motion and ordered

the parties to file a joint status report by May 31, 2004. 9. 10. The parties filed a Joint Status Report on or about June 1, 2004. On June 8, 2004, the Court continued the stay in this case until August 2,

2004 and allowed the parties to file a status report by July 16, 2004. 11. The parties have had further discussions regarding the alternative dispute

resolution process, including the informal exchange of documents. 12. Specifically, pursuant to a detailed request by the Government, ARC has

provided the Government a significant volume of documents relating to ARC's claims. The Government's consultants are currently in the process of reviewing these documents. 13. The parties wish to avoid the significant costs that would be required to

engage in formal discovery procedures and the voluminous exchange of lists and other disclosures set out in RCFC 26(a)(1), considering the nature and size of the dispute. Given the parties' mutual agreement to attempt a negotiated settlement and to exchange any necessary information informally, the parties continue to believe that it

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may become unnecessary to expend these costs. Therefore, the parties believe it is still premature to plan the formal discovery process, as set forth in paragraph 7(e) of the Court's Standard Special Procedures, and to engage in the exchanges and disclosures described in paragraph 7(g) of the Court's Standard Special Procedures. 14. The parties seek leave of the Court to continue their mutual attempts to

pursue alternative dispute resolution methods and the parties propose to file a joint status report on or before September 16, 2004. Correspondingly, the parties

respectfully request the Court to continue the case by sixty days, until September 30, 2004. Respectfully submitted, s/ Robert G. Watt ROBERT G. WATT Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, L.L.P 7929 Westpark Drive, Suite 400 McLean, VA 22102 Tel. (703) 749-1000 Fax. (703) 893-8039 Attorney for Plaintiff DATED: July 16, 2004 PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director s/ Robert E. Kirschman, Jr. ROBERT E. KIRSCHMAN, JR. Assistant Director s/ Michael N. O'Connell MICHAEL N. O'CONNELL Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice 1100 L Street, N.W. Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor Washington, DC 20530 Tel. (202) 305-3634 Fax. (202) 514-8624 Attorneys for Defendant DATED: July 16, 2004

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on July 16, 2004, a copy of the foregoing Joint Status Report was filed electronically. I understand that a copy of the Unopposed Motion 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/ Michael N. O'Connell

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