Bartell Ranch LLC v. McCullough ( 2024 )

O.KENT MAHER (Nev. Bar No. 316) kent@winnemuccalaw.com PO Box 130 33 W Fourth Street Winnemucca, Nevada 89446 Ph: (775) 623-5277 Fax: (775) 623-2468 Local Counsel for Plaintiffs DOMINIC M. CAROLLO (Or. Bar. No. 093057) Pro Hac Vice dcarollo@carollolegal.com Carollo Law Group LLC Mail: P.O. Box 2456 Roseburg, OR 97470 Office: 2315 Old Highway 99 South Roseburg, OR 97471 Ph: (541) 957-5900 Fax: (541) 957-5923 Attorneys for Plaintiffs UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEVADA BARTELL RANCH, LLC, a Nevada limited Case No.: 3:21-cv-00080-MMD-CLB liability company and EDWARD BARTELL, Plaintiffs ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION BY BARTELL PLAINTIFFS AND FEDERAL vs. DEFENDANTS FOR STAY OF BRIEFING OF BARTELL PLAINTIFFS’ EAJA MOTION ESTER M. MCCULLOUGH, Winnemucca District Manager, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, Defendants, and LITHIUM NEVADA CORP., Defendant-Intervenor. 1 Plaintiffs Bartell Ranch and Edward Bartell (“Bartell Plaintiffs”) and Federal Defendants 2 the United States Bureau of Land Management and Ester M. McCullough (“Defendants”) hereby 3 jointly move to stay briefing on Bartell Plaintiffs’ Motion/Petition for Attorneys’ Fees under 4 the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”) to facilitate the continuance of settlement discussions. 5 Bartell Plaintiffs filed their “placeholder” motion/petition for attorneys’ fees under EAJA 6 on November 10, 2023. See Greenpeace v. Stewart, No. 17-35945, 2020 WL 2465321, *4-5 (9th 7 Cir. Commissioner, May 12, 2020) (approving use of EAJA placeholder motion). Bartell 8 Plaintiffs and Defendants subsequently filed a joint motion to stay briefing on Bartell 9 Plaintiffs’ motion/petition for attorneys’ fees. A second joint motion to stay briefing was filed 10 on February 26, 2024. Pursuant to this Court’s order (ECF No. 325) approving the second joint 11 motion to stay, a status report is due April 26, 2024. 12 The status of Bartell Plaintiffs and Defendants is largely unchanged since the last 13 status report. Bartell Plaintiffs and Defendants continue to engage in settlement discussions, 14 and a settlement offer has been tentatively accepted. Bartell Plaintiffs and Defendants are 15 moving forward in confirming the settlement of Bartell Plaintiffs’ fees. Bartell Plaintiffs and 16 Defendants therefore propose that briefing on Bartell Plaintiffs’ Motion/Petition for Attorneys’ 17 Fees continue to be stayed while settlement discussions are ongoing, provided that if a 18 settlement cannot be reached Defendants will inform the Court and, at that time, file a joint 19 schedule which would allow Bartell Plaintiffs to amend its EAJA motion, submit supporting 20 evidence, and create a briefing schedule. 21 Accordingly, Bartell Plaintiffs and Defendants move the Court for an order finding: 22 1. That briefing on Bartell Plaintiffs’ EAJA motion continue to be stayed; 23 24 1 2. Bartell Plaintiffs and Defendants will submit a status report updating the Court on the 2 progress of EAJA negotiations within 60 days of the Court’s order on this Joint Motion; 3 and 4 3. If settlement is unsuccessful, Bartell Plaintiffs and Defendants will file a joint schedule for 5 Bartell Plaintiffs to amend their EAJA motion, submit additional supporting evidence, and 6 creating a briefing schedule. 7 Respectfully submitted this 26th day of April, 2024. 8 /s/ Dominic M. Carollo DOMINIC M. CAROLLO (Or. Bar. No. 093057) O.Kent MAHER (Nev. Bar No. 316) 9 Pro Hac Vice kent@winnemuccalaw.com dcarollo@carollolegal.com PO Box 130 10 Carollo Law Group LLC 33 W Fourth Street Mail: P.O. Box 2456 Winnemucca, Nevada 89446 11 Roseburg, OR 97470 Ph: (775) 623-527 Office: 2315 Old Highway 99 South Of Attorneys for Plaintiffs 12 Roseburg, OR 97471 Ph: (541) 957-5900 13 Of Attorneys for Plaintiffs 14 15 /s/ Michael K. Robertson Michael K. Robertson (DC Bar 1017183) Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Natural Resources Section 16 P.O. Box 7611 Washington, D.C. 20044-7611 17 202-305-9609 michael.robertson@usdoj.gov 18 Attorney for Federal Defendants 19 20 21 22 23 24 1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 2 I hereby certify that on April 26, 2024 I filed the foregoing JOINT MOTION BY 3 || BARTELL PLAINTIFFS AND FEDERAL DEFENDANTS FOR STAY OF BRIEFING 4 BARTELL PLAINTIFFS’ EAJA MOTION using the United States District Court 5 ||CM/ECF, which caused all counsel of record to be served electronically. 6 /s/Dominic Carollo 7 DOMINIC M. CAROLLO (Or. Bar No. 093057) [Pro Hac Vice] 9 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 10 1] IT ISSO ORDERED. DATED THIS 29" Day of April 2024. 1 ALA 14 CHIEF U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE MIRANDA M. DU 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23