§ 1308.32 Prehearing procedures.

(a) Unless otherwise provided in this part, prehearing procedures, including discovery, shall be conducted in accordance with Rules 6, 7(b), 16, 26, 28-37, and 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, except that the Hearing Officer may modify those Rules to meet the needs of the parties in a particular case. (b) The term court as used in those Rules shall be deemed to mean “Hearing Officer”; the term plaintiff shall be deemed to mean “Contractor”; the term defendant shall be deemed to mean “TVA”; and the term action shall be deemed to mean the pending appeal. (c) Discovery subpoenas are subject to Subpart E. (d) The party giving notice of a deposition is responsible for securing a reporter. (e) No appeal of counterclaim may be dismissed except by order of the Hearing Officer. The Hearing Officer may order at any time, with or without a motion by a party, that an appeal or counterclaim, or any part thereof, be dismissed because the matter has been settled, because the party no longer desires to pursue the matter, or because of the party's failure to prosecute the matter or to comply with the regulations in this part or with any order of the Hearing Officer. Any dismissal under this paragraph operates as an adjudication on the merits of the matter which is dismissed, and is a decision within the meaning of § 1308.23, but does not affect the Hearing Officer's jurisdiction over any matter not so dismissed.