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‘Lawyers wrongly assume when changing court’s schedule’
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Posted on Aug 08 2011
Many lawyers in the CNMI wrongly assume that submitting a stipulation is all they need to do to change the court’s schedule, according to Superior Court associate judge David A. Wiseman.
“It’s an assumption that should be dispelled for future practice before this court,” said Wiseman in an order issued last week.
Wiseman said the court’s schedules are set by the court, not by attorneys.
The judge made the clarification after no one appeared at the scheduled July 19, 2011, hearing in the class action suit filed against Mobil Oil Mariana Islands Inc.
Rep. Janet U. Maratita, Joaquin Q. Atalig, Jose P. Kiyoshi, and Felipe Q. Atalig, through counsel Ramon K. Quichocho, are suing Mobil Oil for allegedly secretly neglecting to use proper equipment to ensure that harmful chemicals do not leak into the environment.
Mobil Oil’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit was rescheduled at least twice and then was set for July 19, 2011, at 1:30pm.
Attorneys Thomas E. Clifford and Quichocho, counsel for defendant Mobil Oil and plaintiffs respectively, filed on July 21 a stipulation to reset the hearing on Mobil Oil’s motion to Aug. 25, 2011.
In his order, Wiseman said the court was informed at the last moment—the evening prior to the hearing—that the motion had to be continued again and a stipulation was filed due to a funeral service that had to be attended by one of the attorneys.
Wiseman said he did not sign the stipulation and that no one appeared at the scheduled hearing, which leads him to find it necessary to make the statement to lawyers practicing before him.
“When neither party appeared at the hearing, it was most likely because they assumed, as most members of the Bar do, that submitting a stipulation is all they need to do to change the court’s schedule,” the judge said.
Although the court in most cases will grant the parties’ request for a continuance, he said it is not an automatic occurrence.
Despite his concern, Wiseman said he will honor the stipulation filed by Quichocho and Clifford.
