Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. U.S. Department of Justice

MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply to Plaintiff's Motion for Discovery

D.D.C.March 7, 2006

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ) CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ) ETHICS IN WASHINGTON, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 1:05-cv-02078 ) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, ) Judge: Emmet G. Sullivan ) Defendant. ) ____________________________________) DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO RESPOND TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR DISCOVERY Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 7(b), defendant hereby moves the Court for an extension of time of eight days, until March 17, 2006, to respond to plaintiff’s motion for discovery. The response is currently due on March 9, 2006. Plaintiff’s motion for discovery is twenty-five pages long and includes six exhibits, three major arguments, and a multitude of factual and legal points which will require a specific response. In opposing plaintiff’s motion, defendant expects to submit two or three declarations from different components within the Department of Justice, each of which has many other important obligations, some of which are particularly pressing and squarely conflicting at present, and although this case is of the highest importance, the other business of the Department of Justice cannot be completely ignored. Despite the diligent efforts of undersigned counsel, the process of gathering necessary information and addressing the many arguments raised in plaintiff’s motion has been time-consuming, and defendant will require an additional eight days to complete the process. In addition, defendant’s counsel will be out of town for part of next Case 1:05-cv-02078-EGS Document 11 Filed 03/07/2006 Page 1 of 5 week. If defendant could possibly have anticipated at the February 6 scheduling conference that plaintiff would file such a lengthy brief with respect to its relatively straightforward request for discovery, defendant would have requested more time to prepare a response so as to obviate the need for the Court’s consideration of this motion. The current schedule allows plaintiff a total of 25 days to file its motion and reply brief. Defendant is requesting a total of 22 days, which is reasonable given that defendant’s response will involve the collection of information from several different offices within the Department of Justice. This time will allow defendant to prepare a thorough and complete account of defendant’s processing of plaintiff’s FOIA requests over the course of many months, and will answer the questions raised in plaintiff’s motion so as to facilitate the Court’s resolution of this matter. The extension of time is reasonable and will not prejudice plaintiff or unduly delay this case. For these reasons, defendant’s motion for an extension of time should be granted, and the briefing schedule in this case should be moved forward accordingly. Plaintiff’s counsel has informed defendant’s counsel that plaintiff opposes this motion. Defendant respectfully requests expedited consideration of this matter in view of its impending March 9 deadline for responding to plaintiff’s motion. Respectfully submitted, KENNETH L. WAINSTEIN United States Attorney /s/ Lisa A. Olson ELIZABETH SHAPIRO LISA A. OLSON U.S. Department of Justice 20 Mass. Ave., N.W., Room 6118 Washington, D.C. 20530 Case 1:05-cv-02078-EGS Document 11 Filed 03/07/2006 Page 2 of 5 Telephone: (202) 514-5633 Telefacsimile: (202) 616-8460 E-mail: lisa.olson@usdoj.gov Dated: March 7, 2006 Counsel for Defendant Case 1:05-cv-02078-EGS Document 11 Filed 03/07/2006 Page 3 of 5 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on March 7, 2006, Defendant's Motion for Extension of Time to Respond to Plaintiff’s Motion for Discovery and proposed Order were filed electronically with the Clerk of the Court to be served by operation of the Court's electronic filing system upon plaintiffs' counsel as follows: Anne L. Weismann Melanie Sloan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington 11 Dupont Circle, N.W. Second Floor Washington, DC 20036 Email: aweismann@citizensforethics.org /s/ Lisa A. Olson Case 1:05-cv-02078-EGS Document 11 Filed 03/07/2006 Page 4 of 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ) CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ) ETHICS IN WASHINGTON, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 1:05-cv-02078 ) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, ) Judge: Emmet G. Sullivan ) Defendant. ) ____________________________________) ORDER The Court having considered defendant's motion for an extension of time of ten business days to respond to plaintiff’s motion for discovery, and plaintiff’s opposition thereto, and good cause having been shown, it is hereby ORDERED that defendant's motion is granted, and it is further ORDERED that defendant shall file its response to plaintiffs motion for discovery on or before March 17, 2006, and plaintiff shall file its reply on or before March 27, 2006; and is further ORDERED that the hearing on this matter shall be held on _________________, 2006, at ________________ in Courtroom 24A. Dated: _______________, 2006 __________________________________ EMMET G. SULLIVAN UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Case 1:05-cv-02078-EGS Document 11 Filed 03/07/2006 Page 5 of 5