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

Case 1:98-cv-00726-EJD

Document 144

Filed 09/29/2004

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS GRASS VALLEY TERRACE, A CALIFORNIA LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, et al., Plaintiffs, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 98-726C (Chief Judge Damich)

JOINT STATUS REPORT Pursuant to the Court's Order of February 20, 2004, the parties respectfully submit this status report addressing further proceedings in this case. In accordance with the Court's Order, the parties completed discovery in this case on August 27, 2004. The parties continue to evaluate the Court's recent decision in Franconia Associates, et al. v. United States, 97-381 (Fed. Cl., August 30, 2004). As the parties reported in their previous joint status report, the Franconia case was tried in June 2003 and involves many of the same legal and factual issues as are involved in this case. The expert witnesses who testified in Franconia are expected to testify in this case as well, and it is also likely that there will be other overlapping evidence in both cases. In particular, the parties are evaluating how the Franconia decision, and any appeal to the Federal Circuit from that decision, may affect the future proceedings in this case. Among other things, the parties currently are preparing a joint report to be filed with the Court in the Franconia action. This report, due for filing on October 15, 2004, will include proposed damage figures for entry as final judgment amounts. Until this report is filed, no final judgment can be entered in Franconia, and no appeal can be commenced. Thus, the parties are

Case 1:98-cv-00726-EJD

Document 144

Filed 09/29/2004

Page 2 of 3

not yet in a position to fully evaluate how future proceedings in Franconia may affect the future proceedings in this case. Furthermore, plaintiffs currently are evaluating whether to file a motion to consolidate a number of pending actions, including this case, before the judge in Franconia. Counsel for the plaintiffs in this action and Franconia also represent the plaintiffs in numerous other similar suits now pending in the Court of Federal Claims, including Adams v. United States, No. 96-699C, consolidated with Bellas Domas v. United States, No. 98-826C; A.F.T.E.R., Inc. v. United States, No. 03-CV-2264C; Allegre Villa v. United States, No. 98-823C; and forty-eight other suits that have been filed with the Court since August 5, 2004. Given that the Franconia case has been fully tried and will reach final judgment in the near future, and that any appeal to the Federal Circuit in Franconia will directly impact all of the other pending cases, plaintiffs believe that there are numerous efficiencies that would be gained by consolidating all of the cases before the judge in Franconia. (The Government has not yet determined whether it will oppose or consent to such a consolidation.) Thus, any motion to consolidate that plaintiffs may file likely will impact the course of further proceedings in this case. Until a final judgment is issued in Franconia and the parties determine whether to appeal the judgment, however, plaintiffs will not be in a position to fully evaluate whether to file their potential motion to consolidate. Accordingly, the parties propose that they file another joint status report on or before December 6, 2004, setting forth a more specific proposed course of action in this case. This date is one week after the scheduled entry of final judgment in Franconia, now set for November 29, 2004. This will enable the parties to determine what effect, if any, the recent decision in Franconia should have upon their pretrial planning in this case, and to incorporate that determination into the proposed pretrial schedule.

Case 1:98-cv-00726-EJD

Document 144

Filed 09/29/2004

Page 3 of 3

Regarding a status conference, assuming that plaintiffs' counsel may appear by telephone, the parties propose October 4, 5, or 13, 2004. Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General

s/ David M. Cohen DAVID M. COHEN Director

s/ Jeff H. Eckland JEFF H. ECKLAND Eckland & Blando 700 Lumber Exchange 10 South Fifth Street Minneapolis, MN 55402 Tele:(612) 305-4440 Fax: (612) 305-4439

s/ Shalom Brilliant SHALOM BRILLIANT Senior Trial Counsel Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice 1100 L Street, N.W. Attn:Classification Unit Room 8012 Washington, D.C. 20530 Tele: (202) 305-7561 Fax: (202) 305-7643 Attorneys for Defendant

Attorneys for Plaintiffs Dated: September 29, 2004 Filed Electronically

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