Free Letter - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1 :04-cv—OO91 1-G|\/IS Document 104 Filed O2/O1/2006 Page 1 of 2
ROSENTHAL, MONHAIT, GROSS Es GODDESS, P. A.
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
SUITE 1401, 919 MARKET STREET
F. o. Box 1070 TELEPHONE (9021 eee-44;-za
JOSEPH A· RGSENTHAL WILMINGTON, DELAWARE 19899-1070 FACSIMILE (302) 656-7567
NORMAN M. MONHAIT EMAIL RMC,g@RMG5LAw_»;©M
KEVIN GROSS
JEFFREY s. co1>1>Ess
CARMELLA F. KEENER
EDWARD E. RosENr1—1A1
JESSICA zE1.1>1N February L 2006
Via Hand Delivery and Electronic Filing
The Honorable Gregory M. Sleet
United States District Court
844 N. King Street
Lock Box 19
Wilmington, DE 19801
Re: Kopacz v. Del. River and Bay Auth. et ana., D. Del., C.A. N0. 04-911 (GMS) (
Kopazc v. Del. River and Bay Auth., D. Del., C.A. No. 04-1281 (GMS)
Dear Judge Sleet:
We write t0 respond to plaintiffs request for more time t0 present his case.
As we understood the court's order, each party would receive 5.5 hours to present his case.
On behalf of the DRBA, we have been working very hard to pare our case down to the bare
essentials in order to meet those time restraints, and are frankly concemed that we will be unable to .
efffectively cross examine the plaintiff and present the four eyewitnesses, police officer, medical
expert and other fact witnesses within that timeframe. In the event that plaintiff is given additional
time, we respectfully request that the DRBA be given additional leeway as well.
As far as any suggestion that the defendants be required to split an allotted time period, we
do not think that this is a fair allocation of trial time. ln the first place, the DRBA's defense is based
in large measure on Mr. Kopacz' employment history and performance, and therefore must

Case 1:04-cv-00911-GMS Document 104 Filed O2/O1/2006 Page 2 of 2
The Honorable Gregory M. Sleet
February 1, 2006
Page 2
lay the foundation for this defense with some background witnesses. The DRBA must also defend
the maintenance and cure claim, in addition to the claim of negli gence and unseaworthiness. Finally,
we have taken the lead in defending this case, and will therefore require more time than defendant
Swett.
We anticipate that Counsel for Swett will not duplicate the evidence presented by the DRBA,
and assure the Court that we will do everything in our power to move this case along at a rapid pace.
We respectfully request that we be allotted our full 5.5 hours to present the DRBA's defense, and that
the Court will grant us a minimum of leeway in the event that our defense runs slightly longer.
Respectfully,
/s/ Carmella P. Keener
Carmella P. Keener (DSBA No. 2810)
ROSENTHAL, MONHAIT, GROSS
& GODDESS, P.A.
919 N. Market Street, Suite 1401
P.O. Box 1070
Wilmington, DE 19899-1070
(302) 656-4433
[email protected]
Attorneys for Defendant Delaware River
. and Bay Authority
CPK/j ls
cc: James J. Woods, Esquire (via electronic filing)
Donald M. Ransom, Esquire (via electronic filing)
E. Alfred Smith, Esquire (via electronic mail)
Mary Elisa Reeves, Esquire (via electronic mail)
Clerk of the Court (via hand delivery)