PEARSE-HOCKER v. USA

Filing 30

JOINT STATUS REPORT, filed by ANNE PEARSE-HOCKER, USA. (Brown, Walter)

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS
ANNE PEARSE-HOCKER,

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

Plaintiff,
v.
THE UNITED STATES,
Defendant.

No. 10-269 C
Judge Edward J. Damich

JOINT STATUS REPORT
In accordance with the Court’s February 17, 2011, Order, plaintiff Anne Pearse-Hocker
and defendant, the United States, hereby submit this Joint Status Report, which addresses the
parties’ specific progress and plans towards settlement. On February 17, 2011, the Court granted
the parties a 61-day stay of proceedings in this case based on progress made in settlement
discussions between the parties. During the subsequent stay, the parties have formulated drafts
of a Settlement Agreement and a Stipulation for Entry of Judgment (to be filed with the court).
As explained more fully below, the parties are actively working to complete these documents
and, thus, are concurrently filing a Motion for Continuation of a Stay.
By agreement of the parties, defendant provided plaintiff with an initial draft of the
settlement documents on March 14, 2011. The plaintiff then provided limited comments and
edits to these drafts on April 15, 2011. Defendant’s counsel is now considering those edits along
with personnel from the Smithsonian Institution. Based on plaintiff’s edits to the drafts, the
parties agree that only a few outstanding issues remain to be resolved in order to finalize the
Settlement Agreement: the parties have already agreed to mutually acceptable language for most
1

of the provisions of the Agreement. Likewise, there are no open issues remaining between the
parties regarding the Stipulation.
Accordingly, the parties have filed, concurrently with this report, a motion for an
additional 45-day stay of all proceedings in order to avoid the expense and time required to
restart proceedings under the Court’s schedule. As indicated in that motion, the parties believe
that the requested stay will provide sufficient time for the parties to complete and execute a
settlement agreement.
Respectfully submitted,
THOMPSON HINE LLP
Dated: April 18, 2011

By:s/Eric N. Heyer by Walter W. Brown
Eric N. Heyer
1920 N Street, N.W., Suite 800
Washington, D.C. 20036
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
Counsel for Plaintiff Anne Pearse-Hocker

2

TONY WEST
Assistant Attorney General
JOHN FARGO
Director
Dated: April 18, 2011

s/Walter W. Brown
Walter W. Brown
Attorney
Commercial Litigation Branch
Civil Division
Department of Justice
Washington, D. C. 20530
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
Attorneys for the United States

3