Microsoft Corporation v. Internal Revenue Service

Opinion

1 HONORABLE RICARDO S. MARTINEZ

FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON

NO. 2:15-cv-01605 RSM 11 Plaintiff, JOINT STATUS REPORT AND ORDER 12 vs. REGARDING CASE SCHEDULE 13 INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, 14 Defendant. 15 16 The above-captioned action is for declaratory and injunctive relief under the Freedom of 17 Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, as amended, and the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 18 U.S.C. § 701 et seq. The parties jointly request that this action remains open. The parties agree 19 to adopt the following procedures to resolve their outstanding disputes in this action: 20 1. The parties agree that the Defendant shall complete a Vaughn index for all records 21 that had been withheld in full based on the 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5) exemption. See Vaughn v. 22 Rosen, 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir. 1973). To the extent that the Defendant previously asserted an 23 alternative basis (other than the 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5) exemption) for withholding the record in 24 full, the Defendant need not include the record on the Vaughn index. To the extent that the 25 Defendant takes the position that the record is exempt from disclosure based on an exemption 1 (other than the 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5) exemption) that the Defendant did not previously assert, the 2 Defendant will include an entry in the Vaughn index for such record. 3 2. The parties propose adoption of the following schedule for this FOIA case: 4 SCHEDULE 5 Event Date 6 Defendant to provide declaration(s) concerning the adequacy of its search to the August 31, 2020 7 Plaintiff by: 8 Defendant to complete Vaughn index and provide to the Plaintiff by: November 30, 2020 9 Plaintiff to complete list of challenges to 10 Defendant’s exemption claims on records November 30, 2020 withheld in part and provide to Defendant by: 11 Plaintiff to identify any remaining outstanding issues requiring briefing to Defendant by: February 14, 2021 12 Defendant’s motions for summary judgment 13 (or stipulated dismissals) filed with the Court March 31, 2021 by: 14 15 3. Without prejudice to the Plaintiff’s right to raise additional issues pursuant to the 16 schedule set forth in paragraph 2, the parties presently anticipate that any dispute requiring 17 briefing may be limited to the following issues: 18 a. Whether records created and/or assembled by the law firm Quinn Emanuel 19 Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, pursuant to its contract with the Defendant for the provision 20 of services, constitute agency records under FOIA. 21 b. Whether the Defendant conducted an adequate search of the hard drive of 22 Samuel Maruca, Defendant’s former Director of Transfer Pricing Operations. 23 c. Whether the Defendant’s handling of Mr. Maruca’s hard drive rendered 24 Defendant’s search of that hard drive “unreasonable” as to Mr. Maruca’s records. 25 1 d. Whether the Defendant properly withheld records (in whole or in part) 2 based on a claim that such records were exempt from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. § 3 552(b)(5). 4 The parties jointly request that this action remains open and that the Court enter an order 5 adopting the case schedule proposed in paragraph 2. 6 Respectfully submitted this 17th day of March, 2020. 7

8 BAKER & McKENZIE LLP CALFO EAKES & OSTROVSKY LLP

9 By: s/ Daniel A. Rosen By: s/ Patricia A. Eakes 10 Daniel A. Rosen, NYBA #2790442 By: s/ Andrea D. Ostrovsky Pro Hac Vice Patricia A. Eakes, WSBA #18888 11 452 Fifth Avenue Andrea D. Ostrovsky, WSBA #37749 New York, NY 10018 1301 Second Avenue, Suite 2800 12 Tel: (212) 626-4272 Seattle, WA 98101 Fax: (212) 310-1600 Tel: (206) 407-2200 13 Email: daniel.rosen@bakermckenzie.com Fax: (206) 407-2224 Email: pattye@calfoeakes.com 14 andreao@calfoeakes.com

15 Attorneys for Plaintiff Microsoft Corporation 16 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 17 By: s/ Richard J. Hagerman 18 Richard J. Hagerman Trial Attorney, Tax Division 19 U.S. Department of Justice Post Office Box 227 20 Washington, DC 20044 Tel: (202) 616-9832 21 Fax: (202) 514-6866 22 Email: richard.j.hagerman@usdoj.gov

23 Attorneys for Defendant Internal Revenue Service

25 2 It is SO ORDERED this 18 day of March, 2020. 3 A 4 CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 6 7

8 Presented by: 9

10 BAKER & McKENZIE LLP CALFO EAKES & OSTROVSKY LLP

11 By: s/ Daniel A. Rosen By: s/ Patricia A. Eakes Daniel A. Rosen, NYBA #2790442 By: s/ Andrea D. Ostrovsky 12 Pro Hac Vice Patricia A. Eakes, WSBA #18888 13 452 Fifth Avenue Andrea D. Ostrovsky, WSBA #37749 New York, NY 10018 1301 Second Avenue, Suite 2800 14 Tel: (212) 626-4272 Seattle, WA 98101 Fax: (212) 310-1600 Tel: (206) 407-2200 15 Email: daniel.rosen@bakermckenzie.com Fax: (206) 407-2224 Email: pattye@calfoeakes.com 16 andreao@calfoeakes.com

17 Attorneys for Plaintiff Microsoft Corporation 18

20 By: s/ Richard J. Hagerman Richard J. Hagerman 21 Trial Attorney, Tax Division U.S. Department of Justice 22 Post Office Box 227 Washington, DC 20044 23 Tel: (202) 616-9832 24 Fax: (202) 514-6866 Email: richard.j.hagerman@usdoj.gov 25 Attorneys for Defendant Internal Revenue Service