June 14, 2016 — The final judgment in New Hampshire fisherman David Goethel’s federal lawsuit over at-sea monitoring will be further delayed after the judge in the case requested additional briefs from both sides.
“In consideration of the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment and conducting the attending legal research, the court has identified points, authorities and (to some extent) arguments that were unfortunately not cited or raised by the parties’ legal memoranda,” U.S. District Court Judge Joseph N. Laplante wrote in his procedural order.
Prior to ordering the new briefs, Laplante, who sits in U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire, held a June 9 conference call with attorneys to discuss “whether, and the extent to which, any delay caused by additional briefing would increase, extend or intensify any claimed economic hardship” from the federal mandate shifting the costs of at-sea monitoring to the industry.
“Counsel assured the court that neither party had objections or reservations in this regard with respect to additional briefing,” Laplante wrote in the order issued June 10. “The court therefore orders counsel to supplement their arguments in support of their summary judgment motions.”