SERVED: SEPTEMBER 30, 2014 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF HEARINGS 

WASHINGTON, DC 

In The Matter Of: ) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

AIRBORNE MAINTENANCE 

AND ENGINEERING SERVICES 

Respondent 

Docket No. FAA-2013-0291 

· Case No. 2011S0290032 

ORDER GRANTING/DENYING RELIEF, AND MODIFYING 

THE LITIGATION DATES AND PROCEDURES 

On June 23, 2014 an Order Setting New Litigation Dates and Procedures was filed. 

'; =-·.·· 

Among other things, this 6/23/14 Order codified the parties' agreement that they would "resume 

taking any/all fact witness depositions" on August 24, 2014 and finish taking such fact witness 

depositions by September 30, 2014. (6/23/14 Order, 1.) This allowed the parties a total of37 

days to take the depositions. 

On August 19, 2014 an Order Denying Respondent's Motion to Compel Discovery of 

FAA Attorney's Work Product was filed. 

On September 25, 20 14, the FAA filed a Motion for Extension of Time for Discovery. 

The FAA requested that the September 30, 2014 deadline to complete fact witness depositions be 

extended a "minimum of 30 days." 

On September 26,2014, the Respond~nt filed its Answer to FAA's Motion for Extension 

of Time for Discovery. Among other things, the Respondent asserted the FAA had failed to 

properly and timely pursue the scheduling of the witnesses prior to September 30, 2014. The 

Respondent also made an inferred motion for sanctions, pursuant to 14 C.F.R. § 13.217 (f). 

(9/26/14 Answer, 5.) 

On September 29, 2014, the parties appeared by telephone for oral argument on the 

FAA's Motion. During this oral argument, the parties agreed that there were a total of 4-5 fact 

witness depositions that needed to be taken. None had been scheduled prior to August 24, 2014 

resumption date for taking the depositions. None had yet been taken. According to the materials 

filed by the parties, it was undisputed that the Respondent initiated deposition scheduling 

discussions with the FAA on September 10, 2014 (i.e., 17 days after the August 24, 2014 
resumption date for taking depositions), which left the parties with less than 20 days (out of the 

originally allotted 37 day period) with which to take the depositions. The parties then disagreed 

about the scheduling process that ensued. In the materials filed, the FAA and the Respondent 

each assigned fault to each other for not completing the scheduling and taking of fact witness 

depositions by close ofbusiness on September 30, 2014. (Answer, Exhs. 1, 2, and 3.) It should 

be noted, however, that neither party offered any information as to why all fact witness 

depositions had not been fully scheduled prior to August 24, 2014 - the resumption date for the 

taking of the depositions. 

This Order codifies the oral rulings and amendments to the litigation schedule made at 

the close of oral argument. Pursuant to 14 C.F.R. §§ 13.205(a)(6), (8) and 13.213(b), and after 

reviewing all relevant caselaw, regulations, statutory authority, and being fully advised; 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: 

A. The FAA's Motion for Extension of Time for Discovery is granted. 

B. The Respondent's inferred Motion for Sanctions is denied. 

C. By agreement of the parties, the service date of the June 23, 2014 Order Setting New 

Litigation Dates and Procedures is corrected to read "June 23, 2014," rather than "June 23, 

2013." As a result of this agreement, it is not necessary to issue a Nunc Pro Tunc Order. 

D. The litigation dates and procedures contained in the June 23, 2014 Order are modified as 

follows: 

1. November 7, 2014: Deadline for Fact Witness Depositions. The parties shall conclude 

taking any/all fact witness depositions. 

2. Service oflnterrogatories. Pursuant to 14 C.F.R. § 13.220(k)(1), a party shall not serve 

more than thirty (30) interrogatories to each other, and each subpart of an interrogatory 

shall be counted as a separate interrogatory. 

3. Motions Regarding Interrogatories. Pursuant to 14 C.F.R. § 13.220(m) and Paragraph E 

herein, any motions to compel for deficient interrogatory response(s) shall be filed within 

ten (10) days after receipt of the objection or deficient answer. 

4. November 19,2014: Initial Expert Disclosures. On or before November 19,2014, the 

parties shall exchange initial expert disclosures. 

5. December 12,2014: Expert Rebuttal Disclosures. On or before December 12, 2014, 

the parties shall exchange expert rebuttal disclosures pursuant to CR 26(a)(2). 

Page 2 of 5 
6. December 12,2014: Deadline for Completing General Discovery. The last date for 

both parties to finish serving answers to all additional general discovery requests pursuant 

to CR 26- CR 36 and 14 C.F.R. § 13.220(b) and (e). 

7. January 15,2015: Deadlines for Filing Dispositive Motion(s). The last date for both 

parties to file any/all pre-hearing dispositive motions, including Default Motions and/or 

Summary Judgment Motions. 

a) February 12, 2015: Deadline for filing Answer to Dispositive Motion(s); 

b) February 26, 2015: Deadline for filing Reply (if any). 

8. March 5, 2015: 1:30 p.m.-3:30p.m. ET. Telephone conference for oral argument on 

dispositive motions. N.B. If the parties do not file dispositive motions, then this 

Telephone Conference will be automatically converted and held as a Pre-Hearing Status 

Conference. 

9. April 9, 2015: List of Witnesses/Exchange of Exhibits due date. The last date for each 

party to serve and file the following: 

a) A list of the witnesses the party intends to call; 

b) A short statement of the testimony expected from each such witness; 

c) The resume of each witness who will be offered as an expert; and 

d) The documents the party intends to offer in evidence (pre-marked as noted in 

paragraph E, infra); 

10. April 23, 2015: Written Stipulations and/or Motions in Limine. The 

deadline for filing written stipulations and/or Motions in Limine is April23, 2015. 

11. May 5, 2015 -May 8, 2015: Hearing dates. 

Based on the parties' agreement, the Hearing will take four ( 4) days or less. The 

Hearing will begin on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 (9:00a.m.- 5:00p.m. ET) in Orlando, 

Florida, and end on Friday, May 8, 2015 (9:00a.m.- 5:00p.m. ET). The specific 

location of the Hearing will be provided to the parties prior to the Hearing. 

E. Requests for modification of the litigation dates set forth in paragraph B may be made by 

written Motion. Before filing such a Motion, however, the party seeking the modification 

shall contact the opposing party and seek to arrive at mutually convenient alternative date(s). 

A report on the result of this discussion shall be included by the movant in the Motion. 

F. Discovery requests or documents complying with discovery requests need not be filed in this 

case with the Office of Hearings, except as part of a motion regarding disputed discovery, or 

as part of a motion to compel discovery. 

G. Any Motions regarding discovery, including a Motion to Compel Discovery, must be filed 

within ten (10) calendar days after service of a deficient response or after the response to the 

discovery is due, whichever occurs first. Motions to Compel and other discovery motions 

must be accompanied by the relevant discovery requests and responses, and a declaration by 

Page 3 of 5 
the moving party, pursuant to Civ. R. 37(a)(1), that the movant has conferred or attempted to 

confer in good faith with the party alleged to have failed to make discovery or disclosure. 

The Civ. R. 37(a)(l) declaration shall specifically indicate the efforts made by the 

movant to resolve the dispute and identify which discovery matters remain in dispute. Statements 

in opposition to discovery motions must be filed within ten (10) calendar days after service of 

the motion. The failure to timely file objections to discovery may result in the objections being 

deemed waived. Belated service of burdensome discovery requests may also be grounds for 

denial of a motion to compel compliance with such requests. 

H. Each party must bring to the hearing at least three copies of any documents it intends to offer 

in evidence as exhibits (one for the Judge and two for the official reporter). The exhibits 

must have an index cover sheet, and should be pre-marked. Complainant's exhibits 

should be marked "C-1," "C-2," "C-3," etc. Respondent's exhibits should be marked "R-1," 

R-2," "R-3," etc. 

I. At the hearing, there will be the opportunity for direct examination, cross-examination, 

redirect examination and re-cross-examination of each witness. Only one representative of a 

party may cross-:-examine a witness on behalfofthat party. Pursuant to 14 C.P.R. §13.205 and 

14 C.F .R. § 13.222, the Federal Rules of Evidence will be utilized as a guideline in 

determining the admission of all evidence. 

J. Prior to the hearing date(s), if a party wishes to schedule oral argument on any motion, or set 

up any type of telephone conference on the Judge's calendar, the party shall first confer with 

opposing counsel about mutually agreeable alternate dates, and then Mr. Cody L. Smith, 

Attorney-Advisor, at the Office of Hearings (202-366-6941) as soon as possible, with at least 

three (3) mutually-agreed, proposed alternate dates/times for the Judge's consideration. The 

movant shall be responsible for contacting the Office of Hearings. 

K. Stipulated Venue: The parties agreed that the venue location for the hearing is Orlando, 

Florida. 

L. Attorney Withdrawal: Pursuant to 14 C.F .R. § 13.218, an attorney who wishes to withdraw 

from representing a party must file a Motion to Withdraw. In this Motion, In this Motion, the 

attorney shall confirm the following: 

1. The date, address, and method by which the Respondent was served with written 

notice of the attorney's intent to withdraw; 

2. The name of the designated agent/lay representative if the Respondent in the action is 

a business entity; 

3. The current business address, telephone number, and fax number of the Respondent 

and of its designated business agent; 

4. The date and method by which the Respondent was notified in writing of the pending 

hearing dates in this litigation, as well as the pending pre-hearing discovery deadlines 

and telephone conferences; and 

Page 4 of 5 
5. The date and method by which the Respondent was provided a copy of all Orders 

issued in this litigation, as well as any other legal documents to which the Respondent 

is entitled. 

M. For clarifications of this order or questions with regard to the procedures to be followed in 

this case, please contact Mr. Cody L. Smith, Attorney-Advisor, at the Office of Hearings 

(202-366-6941). 

Attachment: Service List 

Page 5 of 5 
SERVICE LIST- BY U.S. MAIL 

ORIGINAL & ONE COPY 

Federal Aviation Administration 

800 Independence A venue, S. W. 

Washington, DC 20591 

Attention: Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC-430 

Wilbur Wright Building-Suite 2W10001 

Mr. Christopher R. Stevenson 

Complainant's Counsel 

Federal Aviation Administration 

ONE COPY 

Office of the Regional Counsel, Southern Region 

P. 0. Box 20636 

Atlanta, GA 30320 

TEL: 404-305-5200 

FAJ(: 404-305-5223 

Mr. Robert P. Silverberg 

Respondent's Counsel 

Silverberg, Goldman & Bikoff, LLP 

Georgetown Place, Suite 120 

1101 30th St., N.W. 

Washington, DC 20007 

TEL: 202-944-3300 

FAJ(: 202-944-3306 

Judge J.E. Sullivan 

US. Administrative Law Judge 

Office ofHearings, M-20 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200New Jersey Avenue, S.E. (Ell-310) 

Washington, DC 20590 

TEL: 202-366-6941 

FAJ(: 202-366-7536 

FDMS No. FAA-2013-0291 

(Civil Penalty Action) 

1 Service was by U.S. Mail. For service in person or by expedited courier, use the following address: Federal 

Aviation Administration, 600 Independence Avenue, S.W., Wilbur Wright Building-Suite 2W1000, Washington, 

DC 20591; Attention: Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC-430.