U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FEDERAL AVIATIONADMINISTRATION

------x In the Matter of AIRPORT MAILERS, INC., Docket No.: FAA-2013-0715 Respondent. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - X U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Hearings, M-20 1200 New JerseyAvenue, S.E. (Ell-310) Washington, D.C. 20590 Tuesday, November 19, 2013
SCHEDULING CONFERENCE (TELEPHONIC) The above-entitledmatter came on for hearing at 11:03 a.m., pursuant to notice.
BEFORE: HON. J.E. SULLIVAN, U.S. Administrative Law Judge
DiversifiedReporting Services, Inc. (202) 467-9200

# RECEIVED DEC1 62013 

## HEARINGDOCKET

DiversifiedReportingServices,Inc.APPEARANCES:

For the Respondent: HEATHER LOWRY, President Airport Mailers, Inc. 13420 Reese BuildingW Huntersville, North Carolina 28078 JOHN F. HANZEL, ESQ. MATTHEW SPENCER, ESQ. John F. Hanzel, P.A. 19425-GLiverpool Parkway Cornelius, North Carolina 28031 (704) 892-1375

For the Agency: JAMES H. DUNFEE, JR., ESQ. Federal AviationAdministration Office of Regional Counsel Southern Region, AS0-7 1701 ColumbiaAvenue College Park, Georgia 30337 (404) 305-5200

DiversifiedReportingServices,Inc. 21 P R0 C E E D I N GS 2 JUDGE SULLIVAN: We're onthe record in the matter 3 ofAirportMailers, Inc. This is Docket Number 4 FAA-2013-0715. Today is Tuesday, November 19, 2013, and the 5 parties have appeared for a Rule 16 litigation scheduling 6 conference. The FAA is representedby its attorney of 7 record, James H. Dunfee, Jr. 8 The respondent, Airport Mailers, Inc., is 9 representedbyHeather Lowry, the president ofAirport 10 Mailers. And, Ms. Lowry, couldyou spell your last name for 11 the record, please? 12 13 MS. LOWRY: Yes. L-o-w-r-y. JUDGE SULLIVAN: Thankyou. Also present on the 14 line is Mr. F. Hanzel, who has been acting in a limited 3

15 capacityas counsel for the respondent, Airport Mailers, Inc. 16 Mr. Hanzel, you were about to tell us before we went on the 17 recordwhat the capacity or the limitations of your 18 representation have been or continue to be. Couldyou 19 expound on that, please? 20 MR. HANZEL: Yes, Your Honor. On August 14, 2013, 21 our firmwas retainedbyAirportMailers to draft a letter 22 requesting that a hearingbe scheduledto address a proposed

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1 civilpenalty inthismatter. In that letter, we statedour 2 representationwas only limited to drafting of the 3 aforementioned letter asAirport Mailers, Inc.'s counsel, Mr. 4 JohnL. Wright, was unavailable due to anunforeseenpersonal 5 matter, which I thinkwas a serious automobile accident 6 involving his wife. I go onto say inmy letter of September 7 25th, "Please let this letter serve as formal notice thatMr. 8 Wright is AirportMailer's counsel in this matter and thatwe 9 do not represent Airport Mailers, Inc.'' 10 That's in a letter dated September 15, 2013, which 11 refers to a letter datedAugust 13, 2013, which was the 12 actual letterwe referencedon the appeal. Further, on 13 Friday, whenmy associate also saidour representationwas 14 just drafting a request for a hearing, that Mr. JohnWright 15 is Airport Mailers' counsel inthis matter and that his 16 contact informationwas listedbelow as a 303 area code. 17 Well, that's our explanation, and I don't know 18 whetherhe's going toparticipate in this call or not. Maybe 19 Ms. Lowry can -- 20 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Thank you verymuch. 21 Mr. Dunfee, do youhave any objection toMr. Hanzel 22 being excused from any further proceedings today and in the

DiversifiedReportingServices,Inc.1 future? 2 3 MR. DUNFEE: No, Your Honor. JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. And, Ms. Lowry, it'smy 4 understanding that Mr. Hanzel has been your attorney on a 5 limitedbasis, but that you have not retainedhim to act for 6 you in any further or future capacity in this matter. Is 7 that correct? 8 9 MS. LOWRY: That's correct. JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Mr. Hanzel, thank you very 5

10 much for your explanation today and for your appearance. You 11 are excused and you willbe removed from the service list in 12 this proceeding. 13 14 15 16 MR. HANZEL: Thank you, Your Honor. JUDGE SULLIVAN: You're welcome. (Mr. Hanzel disconnected from the conference.) JUDGE SULLIVAN: I'll note that Mr. Hanzel has hung 17 up and he's no longer participating in this proceeding. 18 And let me turn backto you, Ms. Lowry. We did 19 receive an e-mail fromMr. Hanzel addressed to the attorney 20 in the office who was prepping this case for me, and it 21 indicatedthat Mr. Wright wouldbe of counsel and provided 22 his phone number. Did you notifyMr. Wright of this action

DiversifiedReportingServices,Inc.1 today, or give him any of the paperwork that you received 2 regarding this conference? 3 MS. LOWRY: Actually, no, ma'am. We have not been 4 able to contact our counsel since his wife was on life 6

5 support. However, Mr. Dunfee and I have come to an agreement 6 that we are both satisfiedwith, and, unfortunately, I was 7 traveling and didn't sign the paperwork quick enough to get 8 to you. But as far as I know, and you can confirmthis with 9 Mr. Dunfee, that we have come to complete resolution on this 10 issue. 11 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. I have not seen anything 12 filed in this office, whichmeans it's not completely 13 resolved yet, but

-- 14 15 MS. LOWRY: Okay. JUDGE SULLIVAN: let me turn toMr. Dunfee and 16 find out what the status of that settlement agreement is. 17 Mr. Dunfee, sir, could you answer that question? 18 MR. DUNFEE: Yes, Your Honor. So on October 24th, 19 Ms. Lowry informedme and sentme a letter to the effect that 20 she was no longer going to be representedbyMr. Wright and 21 she wanted to negotiate with me directly. Upon receiving 22 that, we did come to a settlement agreement, and I actually

DiversifiedReportingServices,Inc.1 sent out the paperwork for it October 29th. And then I've 2 been out of the countrythe last two weeks, and I'mwaiting 7

3 to get thatback, which I talkedtoMs. Lowry about yesterday 4 andwe're to receive in the next few days. And then I will 5 be filing a withdrawal of the complaint upon receiving the 6 promissorynote fromher for the settlement. 7 So that's the only reason why youhaven't received 8 it yet, justbecause inpassing ithasn't been sent to our 9 office yet. And so we are waiting until we receive the 10 promissorynote before withdrawing the complaint. 11 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Why don't we do this, then? 12 Typically, inthese situations I will postpone the Rule 16 13 litigationconference and I'll set a date that's comfortable 14 for the parties in terms of you expectations of an exchange 15 ofpaperwork and forwarding your notice of settlement tome. 16 I do that, inpart, because sometimes settlement 17 doesn't work, and something happens andthere's a breakdown 18 and theparties are still in litigation. And, as a result, 19 then we need a Rule 16 litigationconference. So I err on 20 the side of cautionwhen I do this. 21 That doesn'tmean that I don't fully expect to get 22 some paperworkwith full resolution in this particular case.

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1 But, given what you've toldme -- and let me just check in 2 with Ms. Lowry. Ms. Lowry, have you already sent out the 3 paperwork toMr. Dunfee? Is it basically en route to him 4 now? 5 MS. LOWRY: Yes, it was notarized yesterday. It 6 was sent overnightmail. He'll have it in his office by noon 

### 7 today. 8 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. So, Mr. Dunfee, let's talk 9 about your calendar availability. And given the fact that 10 you've been out of the office and Thanksgiving's coming up, 11 when do you think wouldbe a good postponement time period to 12 reset the Rule 16 in the event, rare as itmight be, that 13 things don't go the way everybody hopes? 14 MR. DUNFEE: I have no doubt that it will be 15 resolved; but, just in case, anytime in December is fairly 16 17 open for me, except the week of the 9th. I will be at hearing in Nashville. But, other than that, anytime in 18 December I'mwilling to set. And, again, I do think I will 19 be filing that notice of withdrawal within the next few days. 20 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Ms. Lowry, what about the 21 week of December 15th through the 21st? 22 MS. LOWRY: I'mtotally available.

DiversifiedReportingServices,Inc.9
1 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Why don'twe plan on 2 settingthis for 10:30 in themorning on December 17th, 2013; 3 and, if I get the notice ofwithdrawal fromMr. Dunfee, I 4 will issue an order dismissing the proceeding and canceling 5 the December 17, 2013, conference, so that everybody's 6 notifiedthat I've taken action to cancel the new conference. 7 So Mr. Dunfee, startingwith you, is December 17, 2013, at 8 10:30 a.m. acceptable? 9 10 MR. DUNFEE: That's fine, Your Honor. JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. And, Ms. Lowry, I heard 11 from you that itwas okay as well. Is that correct? 12 13 MS. LOWRY: Yes, that is correct. JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Then the only other thing I 14 would suggest to both of you is, if in the future youhave a 15 similar circumstance that arises, it probablywouldbe very 16 helpful if you notifyme throughmy attorneythat you are in 17 the process of settling thematter, andthat you simplywant 18 an agreedpostponement of the Rule 16 conference. And the 19 way to do that that's fast, easy, and inexpensive is to 20 simply look at your calendars, figure out three, different 21 alternative dates that youbothwouldbe available that has a 22 comfortablemargin for you interms of getting all your

DiversifiedReportingServices,Inc.1 paperworkexchanged and signed, andthen contacting the 2 attorneywho works withme, Mr. Smith, and lettinghim know 3 that you would like a continuance, because you're inthe 4 process of settlement. 5 And he can expedite something like that for you 6 fairly quickly. And that way you don't have to appear at a 7 conference like this andthentellme inperson, because we 8 do have these kinds of things happen on occasion andwe're 10

9 trying to set up a system so that you can streamline your own 10 process as well. 11 With that, Mr. Dunfee, is there anything else that 12 we can address for you and your client today? 13 MR. DUNFEE: No, Your Honor. I appreciate your 14 time. 15 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Thank you. 16 Ms. Lowry, anythingwe can address for you andyour 17 client at this time? 18 MS. LOWRY: No. I don't. And I appreciate it, and 19 I apologize for wasting your time, because I just didn't get 20 this back in time. Mr. Dunfee and I were both traveling in 21 different areas, andwe just didn't get ourpaperwork 22 together. And I take full responsibility for that, but we

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1 have signed-off on the agreement. So I'm confident that 2 we're okay. 3 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Congratulations on your agreement, 4 and I don't consider it a waste of my time. But I do have 5 lots of things going on, and it's helpful if I have parties 6 let me know in advance, and then I can take care of you 7 without having you all appear before me, and without the FAA 8 hiring andpaying for a court reporter. I think I'mjust 9 thinking in terms of everybody. 10 11 12 MS. LOWRY: Yes. JUDGE SULLIVAN: So I appreciate that and I appreciate your apology. Thank you verymuch. I know it 13 won't happen again, and itmay be that we'll never see you 14 here again, so. 15 16 17 MS. LOWRY: That is my life-long goal. JUDGE SULLIVAN: All right. Well, thank you all verymuch for your presence today. I'm going to wish you all 18 a happy holiday. With that we can go off the record and I 19 wish you all a good day, too. Thank you. 20 21 22 MR. DUNFEE: Enjoy the holidays, Your Honor. JUDGE SULLIVAN: All right. Thank you. Bye-bye. MS. LOWRY: Thank you. Happy holidays. Bye-bye.

DiversifiedReportingServices,Inc.12 1 (The scheduling conference was concluded at 11:14 2 a.m. to resume on December 17, 2013.)

DiversifiedReportingServices,Inc.