"We believe that the voluntary settlement process we set forward is a fair option," said Jessica Smith, a Justice Department spokeswoman.
If voluntary settlement through extension or composition is not possible, the matter must be taken to court.
NOV. 19, 1999 -- Judge Jackson appoints Richard Posner, chief judge for the United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, to oversee voluntary settlement talks.
Herman said Friday that SCA Promotions does not have a case because, "under Texas law, there is no going back on a voluntary settlement".
Mayor Richard J. Riordan and other city officials agreed last week to begin negotiations on a voluntary settlement that could avoid a federal lawsuit, but their options are limited.
The voluntary settlement with the FDIC "was the right thing for us to do, both for the depositors and for us as a family", Pritzker said.
The mediator in the settlement talks was Curtis L. Wagner Jr., an administrative law judge for the federal agency, who said today that the negotiations had failed to reach the comprehensive voluntary settlement he had sought.
Last month, Ms. Kovach said, the school board set a deadline of April 17 for a voluntary settlement and then last week rejected the union's request for around-the-clock bargaining over the Easter weekend.
After a two-hour meeting, Mr. Lee issued a statement saying the Justice Department was "willing to defer filing suit to allow the city the opportunity to work toward a voluntary settlement".
For half a century the GATT relied on voluntary settlement procedures, until America and others finally agreed to set up a body with the teeth originally envisaged for the ITO: the World Trade Organisation.That body has, so far, been accepted by Congress, albeit with plenty of grumbling about the associated infringement of sovereignty.
