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PLAINTIFF’S COUNSEL SHOULD HAVE BEEN HELD IN CRIMINAL CONTEMPT FOR ISSUING SUBPOENAS IN DEFIANCE OF AN ORDER STAYING THE PROCEEDINGS; DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CIVIL AND CRIMINIAL CONTEMPT EXPLAINED (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined plaintiff’s counsel should have been found in criminal contempt for issuing subpoenas in defiance of Supreme Court’s order staying any further action in the case:

In contrast to civil contempt, because the purpose of criminal contempt is to vindicate the authority of the court, no showing of prejudice is required … . Instead, “[a]llegations of willful disobedience of a proper judicial order strike at the core of the judicial process and implicate weighty public and institutional concerns regarding the integrity of and respect for judicial orders” … . …

Notwithstanding [the court’s order], the plaintiff’s counsel issued subpoenas on six separate occasions. When … the Supreme Court reiterated the terms of the stay, both via interim relief granted in the order to show cause and in a separate order, the plaintiff’s counsel did not desist but instead served four more subpoenas and moved to compel the production of subpoenaed documents. This conduct evidences a lack of “respect for judicial orders” and warranted holding the plaintiff’s counsel in criminal contempt … . Under the circumstances of this case, we deem the statutory maximum sanction of $1,000 per offense warranted and therefore impose a total sanction of $10,000. Madigan v Berkeley Capital, LLC, 2022 NY Slip Op 03237, Second Dept 5-18-22

Practice Point: Criminal contempt seeks to vindicate the authority of the court. Therefore no showing of prejudice is required. Here plaintiff’s counsel issued subpoenas in defiance of an order of the court. A $10,000 sanction for criminal contempt was imposed on the attorney by the appellate court.

 

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