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8.  [[underlined]]Petition of the United States on behalf and for the benefit of the Smithsonian Institution, Trustee[[/underlined]] (petition for construction of provision of the J. Seward Johnson and Hunterdon Medical Center School of Health gifts) - Filed February 1977 in the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  Decision issued January 31, 1980; order and judgment on the decision entered February 29, 1980.  Final order and judgment entered on July 1, 1980, confirming prior findings in the February 29, 1980, order.  No appeal of the July 1, 1981, decision taken.  Request for the aware of attorneys' fees filed by Harbor Branch (and opposed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the Institution) pending.

9.  [[underlined]]Thomas[[/underlined]] v. [[underlined]]United States[[/underlined]] (patent infringement) - Filed January 1980 in the U. S. Court of Claims.  Pretrial discovery proceedings under way.  No trial date set as yet.

[[underlined]]CASES DISPOSED OF[[/underlined]]:

1.  [[underlined]]Cramer[[/underlined]] v. [[underlined]]United States[[/underlined]]

  This suit brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act as a result of injuries sustained by plaintiff from a fall in December 1979 on the inside vestibule steps leading from the National Museum of Natural History to Constitution Avenue, N. W., was filed in the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia in October 1981.  Plaintiff's administrative claim, in the amount of $6,000, was denied in April 1981.  Plaintiff sough $100,000 in damages in this suit.  A motion was filed to limit plaintiff to the amount set forth in her administrative claim ($6,000).  A Stipulation of Dismissal, in which the parties agreed to settle the case for $1,500, with no admission of liability on the part of the United States or the Institution, was approved by the Court on May 6, 1982.

2.  [[underlined]]In Re Estate of Eliot Elisofon[[/underlined]]

  The circumstances which precipitated this litigation arose prior to the Smithsonian's acquisition of the National Museum of African Art.  The case involves a bequest to the Museum of photographic and African art collections by a renowned New York photographer.  In 1973, at the time of the bequest, the donor's surviving issue elected under New York law to contest the charitable disposition as excessive, but this election was not pursued until after the Museum was acquired by the Smithsonian.  In January 1981, the donor's surviving issue initiated a special proceeding in the New York Surrogate's Court and simultaneously commenced litigation in the U. S. Court of Claims for recovery of the value of the property distributed to the Museum by the estate's executors.  The Surrogate's Court proceeding named as defendants not only the Smithsonian, but also certain individuals, other charitable beneficiaries, and the executors of the estate.  A complex hearing on various defenses was held by the Court on May 29, 1981, and on September 2, 1981, a decision favorable to the Museum was issued.  The plaintiffs appealed, and a hearing was held before the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court on April 21, 1982.  The Surrogate Court's September 2, 1981, decision was affirmed by the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court on May 11, 1982.