Microsoft Corporation v. Internal Revenue Service

Filing 53

ORDER re Parties' 52 Stipulated MOTION for Extension of Time to File Plaintiff's Response to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment. The Court extends the deadline for Plaintiff to file its response an additional 32 days, up to and including 7/22/2022. Signed by Judge Ricardo S. Martinez. (SB)

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Case 2:15-cv-01605-RSM Document 53 Filed 05/17/22 Page 1 of 5 1 THE HONORABLE RICARDO S. MARTINEZ 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 9 10 MICROSOFT CORPORATION, 11 12 13 Plaintiff, vs. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, 14 15 Defendant. NO. 2:15-cv-01605-RSM STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE PLAINTIFF’S RESPONSE TO DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT NOTE ON MOTION CALENDAR: May 12, 2022 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 The above-captioned action is 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. On April 29, 2022, Defendant filed a Motion for Summary Judgment (“Defendant’s Motion” or “Motion”) with a noting date of June 27, 2022. See Doc. 51. Under Local Civil Rule 7(d), Plaintiff has until June 20, 2022, to file its response to Defendant’s Motion. Given the broad scope of this matter, the numerous complex issues potentially subject to briefing, and the breadth of Defendant’s Motion, its declarations, and exhibits, the parties stipulate to Plaintiff’s request that the Court extend the deadline for Plaintiff to file its response an additional 25 26 STIPULATED MOTION & ORDER FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE PLTF’S RESPONSE TO DEF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT – Page 1 (No. 2:15-cv-01605-RSM) LAW OFFICES CALFO EAKES LLP 1301 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2800 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 TEL (206) 407-2217 FAX, (206) 407-2278 Case 2:15-cv-01605-RSM Document 53 Filed 05/17/22 Page 2 of 5 1 32 days, up to and including July 22, 2022. Plaintiff anticipates that this will be its only request 2 to extend the deadline to file its response.1 In support of this request, the parties state the following: 3 1. For the last two years, the parties have worked together to narrow the issues before 4 the Court and to resolve various matters without Court intervention. During that time, Defendant 5 shared with Plaintiff certain draft declarations regarding Defendant’s search efforts and draft 6 Vaughn indices. Plaintiff’s counsel provided detailed comments on those declarations and Vaughn 7 indices in multiple emails to Defendant’s counsel and comprehensive letters dated November 30, 8 2020, December 11, 2020, January 13, 2021, March 9, 2021, July 28, 2021, September 22, 2021, 9 and November 10, 2021. In addition, Plaintiff’s counsel and Defendant’s counsel held several 10 telephonic conferences regarding Plaintiff’s counsel’s comments. 2. 11 Defendant’s response to Plaintiff’s comments included several letters, material 12 edits to its search effort declarations, the release in full of additional records, and an expanded 13 Vaughn index. In addition, while responding to certain issues raised by Plaintiff regarding 14 Defendant’s draft Vaughn index, Defendant discovered that its draft Vaughn index was 15 incomplete. As a result, Defendant recently added approximately 4,460 additional entries to its 16 Vaughn index. Defendant has represented that it withheld from production approximately 13,000 17 document pages in part, and 49,400 document pages in full. 3. 18 On April 29, 2022, Defendant filed its Motion and supporting papers, totaling 691 19 pages. Defendant claims exemptions from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. §§ 552(b)(2), (b)(3), (b)(4), 20 (b)(5), (b)(7)(A), and (b)(7)(C). As part of its 5 U.S.C. §§ 552(b)(5) exemption claims, Defendant 21 withheld documents under the deliberative process privilege, the attorney-client privilege, and the 22 work product doctrine. 23 24 25 26 1 Defendant also intends to make a request to extend its reply deadline to Plaintiff’s opposition. To ensure that an extension request for the reply deadline is made only once, Defendant intends to wait until after Plaintiff has filed its opposition to obtain a better estimate of the time needed to prepare its reply. STIPULATED MOTION & ORDER FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE PLTF’S RESPONSE TO DEF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT – Page 2 (No. 2:15-cv-01605-RSM) LAW OFFICES CALFO EAKES LLP 1301 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2800 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 TEL (206) 407-2217 FAX, (206) 407-2278 Case 2:15-cv-01605-RSM Document 53 Filed 05/17/22 Page 3 of 5 1 2 4. search efforts and exemption claims. 3 4 5. 6. Plaintiff requests additional time to fully evaluate Defendant’s Motion, declarations, and exhibits (including its Vaughn index) to prepare its response. 7 8 On April 29, 2022, Defendant also filed a Motion for Summary Judgment in the parties’ related FOIA matter. See Dkt. 2:15-cv-00369 RSM, Doc. 63. 5 6 Defendant’s Motion presents complex issues of fact and law regarding Defendant’s 5. Accordingly, the parties stipulate to Plaintiff’s request that the Court extend the deadline for Plaintiff to file its response an additional 32 days, up to and including July 22, 2022. 9 DATED this 12th day of May, 2022. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CALFO EAKES LLP 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 By: s/ Patricia A. Eakes Patricia A. Eakes, WSBA #18888 1301 Second Avenue, Suite 2800 Seattle, WA 98101 Phone: (206) 407-2200 Email: pattye@calfoeakes.com Attorney for Defendant Internal Revenue Service 19 20 21 BAKER & McKENZIE LLP By: s/ Daniel A. Rosen Daniel A. Rosen, NYBA #2790442 (pro hac vice) 452 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10018 Phone: (212) 626-4272 Email: daniel.rosen@bakermckenzie.com Attorneys for Plaintiff Microsoft Corporation 22 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 STIPULATED MOTION & ORDER FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE PLTF’S RESPONSE TO DEF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT – Page 3 (No. 2:15-cv-01605-RSM) LAW OFFICES CALFO EAKES LLP 1301 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2800 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 TEL (206) 407-2217 FAX, (206) 407-2278 Case 2:15-cv-01605-RSM Document 53 Filed 05/17/22 Page 4 of 5 1 2 ORDER IT IS SO ORDERED this 17th day of May, 2022. 3 A 4 5 RICARDO S. MARTINEZ CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Presented by: CALFO EAKES LLP By: s/ Patricia A. Eakes Patricia A. Eakes, WSBA #18888 1301 Second Avenue, Suite 2800 Seattle, WA 98101 Phone: (206) 407-2200 Email: pattye@calfoeakes.com BAKER & McKENZIE LLP By: s/ Daniel A. Rosen Daniel A. Rosen, NYBA #2790442 (pro hac vice) 452 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10018 Phone: (212) 626-4272 Email: daniel.rosen@bakermckenzie.com Attorneys for Plaintiff Microsoft Corporation U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE By: s/ Stephen S. Ho Stephen S. Ho Trial Attorney, Tax Division STIPULATED MOTION & ORDER FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE PLTF’S RESPONSE TO DEF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT – Page 4 (No. 2:15-cv-01605-RSM) LAW OFFICES CALFO EAKES LLP 1301 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2800 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 TEL (206) 407-2217 FAX, (206) 407-2278 Case 2:15-cv-01605-RSM Document 53 Filed 05/17/22 Page 5 of 5 1 2 3 4 U.S. Department of Justice Post Office Box 227 Washington, DC 20044 Tel: (202) 616-8994 Email: stephen.s.ho@usdoj.gov Attorney for Defendant Internal Revenue Service 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 STIPULATED MOTION & ORDER FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE PLTF’S RESPONSE TO DEF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT – Page 5 (No. 2:15-cv-01605-RSM) LAW OFFICES CALFO EAKES LLP 1301 SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 2800 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 TEL (206) 407-2217 FAX, (206) 407-2278

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