Prescient, Inc. v. United States

• Court: United States Court of Federal Claims
• Decided: January 27, 2016
• Docket: 16-109
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

In the United States Court of Federal Claims No. 16-109 C (Filed January 27, 2016) Not for Publication

PRESCIENT, INC., ) Plaintiff, ) v. ) ) Disqualification THE UNITED STATES, ) Defendant, )

ORDER

The instant bid protest was filed on January 21, 2016. See Doc. 1. On January 27, 2016, Matt Martin Real Estate Management, LLC, filed a motion to intervene. See Doc. 5. It has come to the court’s attention that the intervenor is represented by attorneys with the firm Venable, LLC. As such, I must disqualify myself as the presiding judge, and the case will be reassigned to another judge on the court.

The statute governing judicial disqualification provides, in relevant part, that a judge “shall” disqualify himself if “[h]e or his spouse, or a person within the third degree of relationship to either of them, or the spouse of such a person . . . [i]s known by the judge to have an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.” 28 U.S.C. 455(b)(5)(iii). A “person within the third degree of relationship” to me is a partner at Venable. As a partner with the firm, he has an interest that “could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.” See, e.g., Potashnick v. Port City Const. Co., 609 F.2d 1101, 1113 (5th Cir. 1980).

Because the statute specifies that the parties cannot waive disqualification under these circumstances, I must recuse myself. See 28 U.S.C. 455(e). The clerk of court is directed to reassign this case.

SO ORDERED.

s/ James F. Merow James F. Merow, Senior Judge