Drafting New York Civil-Litigation Documents: Part XXXIV — Contempt Motions Continued

Abstract

This article, the 34th in a series on New York civil-litigation drafting, discusses civil-contempt motions.

A court may invoke its civil-contempt powers “only at the instance of an aggrieved civil litigant.” A court has the authority to act on behalf of public justice to exercise its criminal-contempt power. But a court has no authority to exercise its civil-contempt power, sua sponte, “by standing, without invitation, in the shoes of one of the privately interested litigants appearing before it.”

Keywords: New York, litigation documents, drafting, civil contempt