Microsoft Corporation v. Internal Revenue Service

Filing 56

ORDER re Defendant's 55 Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time. The Court extends the deadline for filing a motion for summary judgment up to and including 1/28/2022. Signed by Judge Ricardo S. Martinez. (SB)

Download PDF
HONORABLE RICARDO S. MARTINEZ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 8 9 10 MICROSOFT CORPORATION, NO. 2:15-cv-00369 RSM 11 12 13 Plaintiff, vs. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, 14 Defendant. 15 16 MICROSOFT CORPORATION, NO. 2:15-cv-00850 RSM Plaintiff, 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 FOURTH CONSENT MOTION AND ORDER REGARDING CASE SCHEDULE vs. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, Defendant. The above-captioned actions are for declaratory and injunctive relief under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, as amended, and the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 701 et seq. The parties jointly request that these actions remain open and that the 24 25 FOURTH CONSENT MOTION TO EXTEND TIME AND ORDER REGARDING CASE SCHEDULE (Case Nos. 2:15-cv-00369, 2:15-cv-00850) U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division Ben Franklin Station , P.O. Box 227 Washington, D.C. 20044 202-616-8994 (Phone) 202-524-6866 (Fax) 1 Court approve the parties’ agreed upon, modified schedule set forth in paragraph 3, below. In 2 support of this request, the parties state the following: 3 1. On September 17, 2021, the Court issued a modified case management order 4 adopting the parties’ proposed revised schedule and case management order. Under that 5 schedule, the IRS was required to file a motion for summary judgment by December 3, 2021. 6 2. Counsel for the IRS and Microsoft have had regular discussions over the past 7 months to identify and attempt to narrow the issues for which summary judgment briefing would 8 be necessary. By letters dated September 22, 2021 and November 10, 2021, Microsoft 9 acknowledged that the IRS had addressed some of its concerns, and summarized a variety of 10 outstanding issues it had raised previously regarding the IRS’s productions, draft declarations, 11 and draft Vaughn indices, including certain exemption claims. The IRS responded to certain of 12 the issues raised by Microsoft by letter dated November 23, 2021. The IRS is in the process of 13 responding to Microsoft’s remaining concerns, and the parties are still engaging in good faith 14 negotiations to narrow the issues that may be addressed in summary judgment proceedings.1 3. 15 The IRS accordingly requests, and Microsoft consents, to extend the remaining 16 deadline for the filing of the IRS’s motion for summary judgment. The IRS thus requests that 17 the Court adopt a case schedule extending the deadline for filing a motion for summary judgment 18 up to and including January 28, 2022 for both of the above-captioned cases. 4. 19 Recognizing that the parties continue to engage in good faith negotiations, the 20 parties agree that evidence of the IRS’s efforts to address Microsoft’s concerns, including any 21 revisions to previously exchanged declarations or exemption claims, is not admissible to prove 22 that the IRS’s search was unreasonable or that the IRS’s exemption claims were improper. 23 24 25 1 As set forth in more detail in the motion in the associated FOIA case also before this Court, 2:15-cv01605, the IRS is in the process of supplementing its draft revised Vaughn index in that case with approximately 3,400 additional entries. The IRS, with Microsoft’s consent, has requested an identical extension of time for filing for summary judgment in that case. FOURTH CONSENT MOTION TO EXTEND TIME AND ORDER REGARDING CASE SCHEDULE (Case Nos. 2:15-cv-00369, 2:15-cv-00850) U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division Ben Franklin Station , P.O. Box 227 Washington, D.C. 20044 202-616-8994 (Phone) 202-524-6866 (Fax) 1 2 5. The parties jointly request that these actions remain open and that the Court enter an order adopting the case schedule proposed in paragraph 3. 3 Respectfully submitted this 2nd day of December, 2021. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 BAKER & McKENZIE LLP By: s/ Daniel A. Rosen Daniel A. Rosen, NYBA #2790442 Pro Hac Vice 452 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10018 Tel: (212) 626-4272 Fax: (212) 310-1600 Email: daniel.rosen@bakermckenzie.com 11 12 Attorney for Plaintiff Microsoft Corporation 13 14 15 16 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 17 By: 18 19 20 21 22 23 s/ Stephen S. Ho Stephen S. Ho Trial Attorney, Tax Division U.S. Department of Justice Post Office Box 227 Washington, DC 20044 Tel: (202) 616-8994 Fax: (202) 514-6866 Email: stephen.s.ho@usdoj.gov Attorney for Defendant Internal Revenue Service 24 25 FOURTH CONSENT MOTION TO EXTEND TIME AND ORDER REGARDING CASE SCHEDULE (Case Nos. 2:15-cv-00369, 2:15-cv-00850) U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division Ben Franklin Station , P.O. Box 227 Washington, D.C. 20044 202-616-8994 (Phone) 202-524-6866 (Fax) 1 2 3 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that I served a true and correct copy of the foregoing JOINT MOTION via the Court’s electronic case filing system on December 2, 2021. 4 5 6 /s Stephen S. Ho STEPHEN S. HO 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 FOURTH CONSENT MOTION TO EXTEND TIME AND ORDER REGARDING CASE SCHEDULE (Case Nos. 2:15-cv-00369, 2:15-cv-00850) U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division Ben Franklin Station , P.O. Box 227 Washington, D.C. 20044 202-616-8994 (Phone) 202-524-6866 (Fax) 1 ORDER 2 It is SO ORDERED this 6th day of December, 2021. 3 4 A 5 6 RICARDO S. MARTINEZ CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Presented by: BAKER & McKENZIE LLP By: s/ Daniel A. Rosen Daniel A. Rosen, NYBA #2790442 Pro Hac Vice 452 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10018 Tel: (212) 626-4272 Fax: (212) 310-1600 Email: daniel.rosen@bakermckenzie.com 16 17 Attorney for Plaintiff Microsoft Corporation 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE By: s/ Stephen S. Ho Stephen S. Ho Trial Attorney, Tax Division U.S. Department of Justice Post Office Box 227 Washington, DC 20044 Tel: (202) 616-8994 Fax: (202) 514-6866 Email: stephen.s.ho@usdoj.gov Attorney for Defendant Internal Revenue Service FOURTH CONSENT MOTION TO EXTEND TIME AND ORDER REGARDING CASE SCHEDULE (Case Nos. 2:15-cv-00369, 2:15-cv-00850) U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division Ben Franklin Station , P.O. Box 227 Washington, D.C. 20044 202-616-8994 (Phone) 202-524-6866 (Fax)

Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.


Why Is My Information Online?