Gates v. Pfeiffer
The moral to this case is that you cannot cure an evidentiary deficiency in your moving papers by putting the necessary evidence in your reply papers at least without giving the other side a chance to examine your new evidence and then reply to it in writing. In this case centering on a request for attorneys fees in the wake of a civil contempt proceeding the other side didnt get that chance. Court must therefore reverse the $25,000 attorney fee award (based on two counts of contempt which generated fines of $1,000 each), and remand with directions to vacate the attorney fee order. Court opine, though we cannot do anything about it, that the judgment of contempt is not valid.
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