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1 FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION 

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4 In the Matter of: 

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ROMNEY CYCLE 

CENTER 

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FDMS No. 

FAA 2015-0203 

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11 The telephonic scheduling conference 

12 before HONORABLE J.E. SULLIVAN was taken on 

13 Thursday, February 4, 2016, commencing at 10:30 

14 a.m., before Deborah Wehr, RPR, Notary Public. 

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RECEIVED 

FEB 2 2 2016 

HEARING DOCKET 
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Romney Cycle Center 2/4/2016 

1 A P P E A R A N C E S 

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4 ON BEHALF OF THE COMPLAINANT: (Via telephone) 

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JEANINE C. GOTIMER, ESQUIRE 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Enforcement Division, Northeast Team 

1 Aviation Plaza 

Jamaica, New York 11434 

( 718) 553-3272 

13 ON BEHALF OF THE RESPONDENT: (Via telephone) 

14 BRIAN W. STOLARZ, ESQUIRE 

15 LeClair Ryan 

16 2318 Mill Road 

17 Suite 1100 

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Alexandria, Virginia 22314 

(703) 684-8007 

25 (Appearances continued on next page.) 

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1 APPEARANCES: (Continued.) 

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HONORABLE J.E. SULLIVAN (via telephone) 

U.S. Administrative Law Judge 

Office of Hearings, M-20 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

(Ell-310) 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

(202) 366-2132 

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2/4/2016 
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1 

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P R 0 C E E D I N G S 

HONORABLE SULLIVAN: We are on the 

4 record in the matter of Romney Cycle Center. 

5 This is docket number FAA-2015-0203. Today is 

6 Thursday, February 4, 2016, and the parties have 

7 convened for what appears to be a prehearing 

8 status conference. 

9 The Federal Aviation Administration 

10 which I'll herein after refer to by its 

11 initials, the FAA, is represented by its 

12 attorney of record, Ms. Jeanine C. Gotimer. The 

13 respondent, Romney Cycle Center, is represented 

14 by its attorney of record, Mr. Brian W. Stolarz. 

15 Good morning to you both. I'll just 

16 outline what brings us to today's telephone 

17 conference. Essentially on June 19, 2015, there 

18 was an order setting litigation dates and 

19 procedures. On page 3 of that five-page 

20 document there was a schedule for the parties to 

21 file dispositive motions and to appear by 

22 telephone on such motion for today's date and 

23 time. There was also a directive that if the 

24 parties did not file dispositive motions, that 

25 the telephone conference would still be held but 

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1 converted to a prehearing status conference. 

2 I'll note that the record shows that no 

3 dispositive motions were filed. So the parties 

4 have convened today, it appears, for a 

5 prehearing status conference. 

6 Ms. Gotimer, is that your understanding 

7 of why you and your client are present today? 

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MS. GOTIMER: Yes, Your Honor. 

HONORABLE SULLIVAN: And Mr. Stolarz, 

10 same question for you, sir. 

11 MR. STOLARZ: Yes, Your Honor, that 

12 accurately reflects the status. 

13 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: I'm going to turn 

14 first to the FAA, the plaintiff in this matter. 

15 Ms. Gotimer, can you tell us the status of the 

16 case that's currently pending for trial in 

17 May 2016 in the Washington, D.C. area? 

18 MS. GOTIMER: Yes, Your Honor, thank 

19 you. So I inherited this case from my 

20 colleague, who is located in our southern 

21 region, in November or sometime in October or 

22 early November. And so I have not really had a 

23 lot of time to speak with Mr. Stolarz about 

24 settlement, but at this point it looks like the 

25 parties are pretty far apart, although I would 

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1 like the opportunity to speak with him about 

2 potentially resolving the case if that's at all 

3 possible. 

4 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: You have the 

5 ability to settle the case up until the trial 

6 concludes. So you are free to do that at any 

7 time. 

8 MS. GOTIMER: And absent that, you 

9 know, as far as all of the deadlines listed in 

10 your June 19th order, the agency has no 

11 objections to the deadlines set forth in that 

12 order. 

13 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: One would hope 

14 not, counsel, since your predecessor agreed to 

15 them already. Were you aware of that? 

16 MS. GOTIMER: Yes, Your Honor. I'm not 

17 really sure what you were looking for me to say 

18 about the status of the case. That's where we 

19 are. 

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me if 

When I 

asking 

case. 

you at 

HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Feel free to ask 

you don't know what I'm talking about. 

ask you for the status of the case, I'm 

you essentially where you are in the 

Are you ready to proceed with trial? Are 

the verge of settlement? Is there 

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1 something that you need the Court to assist you 

2 with? Do you need a second prehearing status 

3 conference to bookend essentially some informal 

4 matters that the parties are considering? Are 

5 you looking for more conference time on the 

6 Court's calendar for motions other than 

7 dispositive motions which ideally would have 

8 been addressed today? 

9 This particular conference is set up 

10 not only for the parties' convenience to have 

11 access to the Court but also for court docket 

12 management. So it's very helpful for the Court 

13 to know if the parties are contemplating 

14 settlement or at the verge of settlement because 

15 that impacts how I direct my staff and what my 

16 staff is doing on this case. 

17 So it sounds to me like you may have 

18 some additional private conversations with your 

19 friend across the aisle, which is perfectly 

20 acceptable. The Court would encourage that in 

21 any event. The question for me is that there 

22 has been no settlement discussions at this point 

23 should I be looking for a courtroom in 

24 Washington, D.C. and is there any narrowing of 

25 the issues so that the parties think that it 

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1 would take less than two days? And Ms. Gotimer, 

2 I don't know if you know those questions right 

3 now-- the answers to the questions. 

4 MS. GOTIMER: Well, I mean, I would 

5 submit, being that it's only February, I would 

6 like to speak with counsel and see whether we 

7 can resolve the case, but I don't think that we 

8 should put off the processing of the case for 

9 that. So I would say that the agency would like 

10 to proceed with the hearing on the time frame as 

11 indicated. 

12 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: That's a given. 

13 Let's try this again. My question to you is 

14 how do I want to say this? It sounds to me, and 

15 you can tell me if I am incorrect, it sounds to 

16 me like no matters have been resolved yet and 

17 that you still need the full two days of hearing 

18 time in Washington, D.C. for the trial dates 

19 that are currently set for May 17, 2016, and 

20 May 18, 2016. Would that be accurate to say? 

21 MS. GOTIMER: Yes, Your Honor. 

22 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Mr. Stolarz, why 

23 don't I turn to you next. Can you give me the 

24 respondent's prehearing status summary. 

25 MR. STOLARZ: Sure. Your Honor, I 

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1 reached out to new counsel around the time that 

2 she came on board and I encouraged at that point 

3 for the two of us to get on the phone and talk 

4 about a settlement because I do think this case 

5 does not necessarily need to be tried. I do 

6 think it could be resolved as an entity that has 

7 never had this kind of issue before and the 

8 amount of fuel at issue was a very small amount. 

9 I do think it's the kind of thing that could be 

10 resolved and I'm hopeful it could be resolved. 

11 So maybe this call will spur on some more 

12 private conversations. 

13 Other than that, we are prepared to 

14 proceed to trial. We have about four witnesses. 

15 I probably won't take every bit of two days. So 

16 really fundamentally, it's probably going to 

17 come down to more the punishment because 

18 obviously the fuel was shipped in that empty 

19 fuel tank. A little bit of fuel was in there. 

20 So the facts are not going to be heavily 

21 disputed on our part but it's going to be more 

22 the circumstances surrounding the shipment and 

23 the lack of any prior regulatory violations by 

24 this entity. 

25 So I do think we could streamline the 

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1 trial pretty quickly. We could probably 

2 stipulate to certain things. I'm hopeful that 

3 the FAA may take the time to talk to me about 

4 why this case could be resolved on a more 

5 reasonable level than what the predecessor 

6 counsel had proposed. 

7 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Let me ask you 

8 this, counsel, and this is following up on your 

9 statement that there's some factual matters that 

10 could be stipulated to. Is that based on 

11 interrogatories that were exchanged or requests 

12 for admissions and the answers to the same? Do 

13 you have some discovery grounding for that 

14 particular statement? 

15 MR. STOLARZ: I would say no, I can't 

16 point to a specific interrogatory or admission 

17 that we would use. I would only say that the 

18 presentation of the evidence will be very 

19 straightforward and we will not challenge the 

20 fact example that the shipment was made. 

21 What I mean by that is not that we have 

22 a discovery basis to say based on this request 

23 for admission and this admission thereto we will 

24 stipulate. I'm sure we could make a stipulation 

25 even as to the discovery grounding to streamline 

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1 the factual presentation that the FAA has to 

2 provide. I don't want to waste people's time. 

3 I just want to make sure that either if are 

4 going to have the hearing, we'll have the 

5 hearing. But I really do think for judicial 

6 economy and a first-time-offender type of thing, 

7 I really do think this matter could be resolved 

8 short of a hearing. 

9 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Do you have a 

10 telephone conference scheduled right now to talk 

11 to your friend across the aisle? 

12 MR. STOLARZ: I reached out to her as 

13 soon as she got appointed and I sort of made my 

14 similar pitch I made to her predecessor. And I 

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haven't heard from her in a while. I think 

she's busy. I'm busy. But I do think now that 

17 we've had this call, maybe we can schedule 

18 something and talk. 

19 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Why don't we do 

20 this because I think this might be most 

21 efficacious, it's not for the Court to 

22 participate in any settlement discussions 

23 between the two of you. That's not my intent. 

24 My intent is to get the ball rolling because as 

25 we all know, with so many different pulls upon 

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1 our time, it is very easy to have weeks go by 

2 and then suddenly be confronted with two short 

3 of a time to address certain matters. So I 

4 would be most appreciative if both counsel could 

5 look at their calendars right now and agree to a 

6 telephone conference call between the two of you 

7 to talk about this matter. 

8 And then I am going to be setting a 

9 second status conference on my calendar after 

10 that just to check in about whatever agreements 

11 you might have been able to reach either in 

12 settling the case or in agreeing to nondisputed 

13 facts or law so that if the case does go to 

14 trial, we will all have a much better idea of 

15 where you want to be spending your time and how 

16 much time you will be spending in the hearing. 

17 So starting with you, Ms. Gotimer --

18 and tell me how to pronounce your last name, 

19 please. 

20 MS. GOTIMER: It's Gotimer. 

21 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Thank you. 

22 Ms. Gotimer, starting with you in terms of, say, 

23 the next two weeks, do you have some blocks of 

24 time on your calendar where you could have a 

25 meaningful conference call with Mr. Stolarz? 

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1 MS. GOTIMER: No, Your Honor, I don't. 

2 I'm out of town for litigation. But the week 

3 after that, the week that begins with 

4 February 21st and during that week I would be 

5 available to have meaningful discussions about 

6 settlement and/or stipulations of fact in law. 

7 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Is there any time 

8 during that week that is preferable for you or 

9 that is a blackout time for you? 

10 MS. GOTIMER: I would prefer to do it 

11 sometime from the 24th on. 

12 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Okay, the 24th 

13 being Wednesday, the 25th Thursday, the 26th 

14 Friday? 

15 MS. GOTIMER: Correct. 

16 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Mr. Stolarz, 

17 turning to you, do you have time available on 

18 any of those stated days for a meaningful 

19 telephone conference with counsel? 

20 MR. STOLARZ: I do and I welcome it. 

21 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: What would be your 

22 preference or blackout times for those three 

23 days? 

24 MR. STOLARZ: I only have one small 

25 matter on the 26th at 3:00. Otherwise I'm open 

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1 all day Wednesday and most of the day that 

2 Friday. So whatever is better for the FAA 

3 counsel is fine by me. 

4 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Then I'll turn 

5 back to you, Ms. Gotimer. What would you 

6 prefer? 

7 MS. GOTIMER: I would prefer 10:00 a.m. 

8 on Wednesday, February 24th. 

9 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Let's plan on 

10 that, Mr. Stolarz. 

11 MR. STOLARZ: I'm putting it in my 

12 calendar right now. 

13 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: And Ms. Gotimer, 

14 will you be initiating that phone call? 

15 MS. GOTIMER: I will, Your Honor. 

16 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Mr. Stolarz, we 

17 have a phone number of record for you that's 

18 already part of the court record. Is there any 

19 other number that you would prefer Ms. Gotimer 

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MR. STOLARZ: No, that's fine. 

HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Let's talk about 

23 reconvening with the Court at this point. 

24 MR. STOLARZ: My apologies. My phone 

25 beeped. 

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1 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: I'm going to be in 

2 trial myself the week of February 29th. Why 

3 don't we set a telephone conference, second 

4 telephone conference for March 17th if the 

5 parties have that date available, starting with 

6 you, Ms. Gotimer. 

7 MS. GOTIMER: Yes, Your Honor, I'm 

8 available on March 17th before 1:00 p.m. 

9 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: And Mr. Stolarz, 

10 same question to you, sir. 

11 MR. STOLARZ: I currently have a trial 

12 set for that day at the FCC, but if I can step 

13 aside from that trial and tell the judge I have 

14 a quick call, I'll have to make sure it's a 

15 reasonably quick call. 

16 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: We can try another 

17 day. Would Friday the 18th work for you, 

18 Ms. Gotimer? 

19 MS. GOTIMER: I'm sorry, Your Honor, I 

20 have something that day. 

21 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: How about 

22 March 22nd, which is a Tuesday the following 

23 week, Ms. Gotimer? 

24 MS. GOTIMER: Yes, Your Honor, 

25 preferably in the a.m. 

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1 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Okay. 

2 Mr. Stolarz? 

3 MR. STOLARZ: That should be fine. I'm 

4 on spring break with the kids, so as long as my 

5 kids can participate in the conference call, 

6 Your Honor. 

7 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Actually, we 

8 welcome that. Why don't we try for, and I don't 

9 want to -- Mr. Stolarz, if you are doing 

10 childcare of any kind, what time in the morning 

11 would work best for you? 

12 MR. STOLARZ: If there is a preference 

13 for the morning, I can take care of whatever 

14 needs to be done for that week. Any time that's 

15 good for the Court and FAA counsel is fine. 

16 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Let's try for 9:30 

17 in the morning. Everybody is on the east coast, 

18 so March 22, 2016, 9:30a.m., and I'll basically 

19 plan on about 45 minutes just to err on the side 

20 of caution. 

21 If you do end up settling or -- if you 

22 find that after the 24th of February that you 

23 are passing settlement papers back and forth, 

24 you are welcome to try and get those settlement 

25 papers completely filed with this office prior 

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1 to March 22nd. And when I receive something 

2 like that, my staff knows to act on it really 

3 quickly. So if we get it ahead of time, I'll 

4 act on it and then I'll cancel the March 22, 

5 2016, conference in the order I issue. 

6 If you don't settle, that's fine, but 

7 then at least hopefully you'll have some factual 

8 and legal stipulations we can either put on the 

9 record on that date or you can file by that date 

10 and we can review. In the meantime, I will be 

11 asking my staff to look for a courtroom space in 

12 Washington, D.C. just to err on the side of 

13 caution. And that way we can have that all set 

14 up in the event that settlement doesn't occur. 

15 So with that, Ms. Gotimer, is there 

16 anything else that we need to address for your 

17 client today before we close? 

18 MS. GOTIMER: No, thank you. 

19 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Mr. Stolarz, same 

20 question to you, sir. 

21 MR. STOLARZ: No, thank you, Your 

22 Honor. 

23 HONORABLE SULLIVAN: Thank you both 

24 very much. I look forward to talking with you 

25 on March 22, 2016, at 9:30 a.m. eastern time. 

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1 Good luck with your private negotiations. With 

2 that, we can go off the record. 

3 (Whereupon, the proceedings at 10:55 

4 a.m., were concluded.) 

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1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 

2 I, Deborah Wehr, do hereby certify that 

3 the foregoing proceedings were taken by me in 

4 stenotype and thereafter reduced to typewriting 

5 under my supervision; that I am neither counsel 

6 for, related to, nor employed by any of the 

7 parties to the action in which these proceedings 

8 were taken; and further, that I am not a 

9 relative or employee of any attorney or counsel 

10 employed by the parties hereto, nor financially 

11 or otherwise interested in the outcome of the 

12 action. 

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Deborah Wehr 

Notary Public 

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