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  • People Of The State Of New York By ATTORNEY GERNERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK v. 5 Corners Pet Inc, Risk Enterprises Inc Dba Shake-A-Paw, Gerard O'Sulllivan, Marc Jacobs Both Indvidually And As Owners Of SHAKE-A-PAWSpecial Proceedings - Other (Pursuant to Exec Law 6312) document preview
  • People Of The State Of New York By ATTORNEY GERNERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK v. 5 Corners Pet Inc, Risk Enterprises Inc Dba Shake-A-Paw, Gerard O'Sulllivan, Marc Jacobs Both Indvidually And As Owners Of SHAKE-A-PAWSpecial Proceedings - Other (Pursuant to Exec Law 6312) document preview
  • People Of The State Of New York By ATTORNEY GERNERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK v. 5 Corners Pet Inc, Risk Enterprises Inc Dba Shake-A-Paw, Gerard O'Sulllivan, Marc Jacobs Both Indvidually And As Owners Of SHAKE-A-PAWSpecial Proceedings - Other (Pursuant to Exec Law 6312) document preview
  • People Of The State Of New York By ATTORNEY GERNERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK v. 5 Corners Pet Inc, Risk Enterprises Inc Dba Shake-A-Paw, Gerard O'Sulllivan, Marc Jacobs Both Indvidually And As Owners Of SHAKE-A-PAWSpecial Proceedings - Other (Pursuant to Exec Law 6312) document preview
  • People Of The State Of New York By ATTORNEY GERNERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK v. 5 Corners Pet Inc, Risk Enterprises Inc Dba Shake-A-Paw, Gerard O'Sulllivan, Marc Jacobs Both Indvidually And As Owners Of SHAKE-A-PAWSpecial Proceedings - Other (Pursuant to Exec Law 6312) document preview
  • People Of The State Of New York By ATTORNEY GERNERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK v. 5 Corners Pet Inc, Risk Enterprises Inc Dba Shake-A-Paw, Gerard O'Sulllivan, Marc Jacobs Both Indvidually And As Owners Of SHAKE-A-PAWSpecial Proceedings - Other (Pursuant to Exec Law 6312) document preview
  • People Of The State Of New York By ATTORNEY GERNERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK v. 5 Corners Pet Inc, Risk Enterprises Inc Dba Shake-A-Paw, Gerard O'Sulllivan, Marc Jacobs Both Indvidually And As Owners Of SHAKE-A-PAWSpecial Proceedings - Other (Pursuant to Exec Law 6312) document preview
  • People Of The State Of New York By ATTORNEY GERNERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK v. 5 Corners Pet Inc, Risk Enterprises Inc Dba Shake-A-Paw, Gerard O'Sulllivan, Marc Jacobs Both Indvidually And As Owners Of SHAKE-A-PAWSpecial Proceedings - Other (Pursuant to Exec Law 6312) document preview
						
                                

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FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NASSAU ------------------------------------------------------------------------------X PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, by LETITIA JAMES, Attorney General of the State AFFIRMATION IN of New York, SUPPORT OF MOTION IN LIMINE Petitioner, - against - Index No.: 615766/2021 5 CORNERS PET, INC., RISK ENTERPRISES, INC. d/b/a Assigned Justice: SHAKE-A-PAW, and GERARD O’SULLIVAN and MARC HON. HELEN VOUTSINAS JACOBS, both individually and as owners of Shake-A-Paw, Respondents. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------X RICHARD HAMBURGER, an attorney at law, duly licensed to practice in the State of New York, affirms under penalties of perjury as follows: INTRODUCTION 1. I am a member of the firm of Hamburger, Maxson, Yaffe & Martingale, LLP, attorneys for respondents 5 Corners Pet, Inc., Rick Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a Shake A Paw, and Gerard O’Sullivan and Marc Jacobs, both individually and as owners of Shake A Paw (collectively, “Respondents”) in this special proceeding, and I am fully familiar with the facts and circumstances stated herein. 2. This affirmation is submitted in support of Respondents’ motion in limine, seeking to preclude Petitioner from introducing and presenting at the hearing ordered by the Court in its Short Form Order dated April 7, 2022 (the “Order”): 1 1 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 a. all documentary, testimonial and expert evidence that was not made and presented in the papers filed by Petitioner in support of the Order to Show Cause dated December 17, 2021 (the “OSC”); b. all evidence from the veterinarians designated by NYAG to examine puppies at the Shake A Paw stores prior to Christmas 2021; c. all evidence from Dr. Gregory Nelson, D.V.M.; d. all evidence regarding alleged complaints from customers to the Petitioner and/or to the Better Business Bureau that were referenced, but not identified, specified and presented in the papers filed by Petitioner in support of the OSC; and e. all evidence regarding Small Claims Court records. THE GOVERNING LAW 3. “[T]he function of a motion in limine is to permit a party to obtain a preliminary order before or during trial excluding the introduction of anticipated inadmissible, immaterial, or prejudicial evidence or limiting its use.” State v. Metz, 241 A.D.2d 192, 198 (1st Dept. 1998) (emphasis in original). The proper focus of a motion in limine is whether evidence that a party anticipates offering is inadmissible. PCK Dev. Co. LLC v. Assessor of Town of Ulster, 43 A.D.3d 539, 540 (3d Dept. 2007). 4. In addition, when issues have been resolved pursuant to prior motion practice, their resolution is then the “law of the case” and a trial Judge should exclude evidence on such resolved issues in the context of a motion in limine. Siewert v. Loudonville Elementary Sch., 210 A.D.2d 568, 569 (3d Dept. 1994); Wasson v. Bond, 80 2 2 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 A.D.3d 1114, 1115 (3d Dept. 2011); and Metro. Steel Indus., Inc. v. Perini Corp. 55 A.D.3d 228, 231 (1st Dept. 2008). “The doctrine of the ‘law of the case’ is a rule of practice, an articulation of sound policy that, when an issue is once judicially determined, that should be the end of the matter as far as Judges and courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction are concerned.” Martin v. City of Cohoes, 37 N.Y.2d 162, 165 (1975). In Ennist v. Shepherd, 117 A.D.2d 580 (2d Dept. 1986), for example, the Second Department recognized that a protective order issued by one judge limiting discovery and inspection to certain financial records “became the law of the case with respect to a court of co-ordinate jurisdiction and was properly followed” by a different Special Term Judge. POINT I ALL EVIDENCE THAT WAS NOT PRESENTED IN THE PAPERS FILED BY PETITIONER IN SUPPORT OF THE OSC, OR WHICH WAS FIRST SUBMITTED BY PETITIONER ON REPLY, SHOULD BE PRECLUDED. 5. In the prior motion practice before this Court, Respondents objected to multiple affidavits and documents submitted by Petitioners in their reply papers, and asserted that the Court should thus reject: a. The affidavits and testimony of Petitioner’s veterinarians Ashley Newman, D.V.M., Kayla Akkaya, D.V.M., Lauryn Benson, D.V.M., Ellen Gunzel, D.V.M. and Diane Monsein Levitan, V.M.D. (NYSCEF Docs. 202, 203, 225, 226, 227, 228, 245, 276) that purports to present new evidence and arguments and were not submitted as part of Petitioner’s forward-going case; 3 3 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 b. the affidavit and testimony of Dr. Julie Fixman, D.V.M. (NYSCEF Doc. No. 205 and 229) that purports to submit new evidence and arguments and was not submitted as part of Petitioner’s forward-going case; c. the new consumer affidavits and testimony that purport to submit new evidence and arguments and were not submitted as part of Petitioner’s forward-going case (i.e., the affidavits of Afua Boakye-Yiadon, Deborah Cassata, Marilyn Cintron, Elaine Delasho, Shannon Greenhalgh, Roger Hoelderlin, Leila Joseph, Gianna Lallos, William McCaffrey, Joanna McDonald, Alyssa McLoone, Marie Miceli, Latoya Price-Felician, Thomas Riordan, Daniel Ruckert, Juhnee Shelton and Dara Williams (NYSCEF Doc. Nos. 247-263)); d. the affidavit and testimony of Matthew Roper (NYSCEF Doc. Nos. 204 and 250) that purports to submit new evidence and arguments and was not submitted as part of Petitioner’s forward-going case; e. (i) a spreadsheet of a list of complaints allegedly filed with the Better Business Bureau (NYSCEF Doc. No. 188 and No. 231); (ii) one hundred eleven pages of alleged supplemental medical records (NYSCEF Doc. No. 200, 244 and 275); (iii) third party subpoenas and correspondence with third parties (NYSCEF Doc. Nos. 191-194, 237-240, 243, 268-271, 274); (iv) customer information sheets (NYSCEF Doc. No. 233 and 265); and (v) an advocacy document with allegations (NYSCEF Doc. No. 234), all of which purported to submit new evidence and arguments and were not submitted as part of Petitioner’s forward-going case; and 4 4 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 f. any and all other evidence not presented in the papers filed by Petitioner in support of the OSC. 6. In resolving these issues, this Court has already held and found: The Court notes that in their reply papers, Petitioners have improperly submitted new arguments and evidence, with several affidavits, in support of new allegations not previously made. It is well-settled ‘[t]he function of reply papers is to address arguments made in opposition to the position taken by the movant and not to permit the movant to introduce new arguments in support of, or new grounds or evidence for, the motion.’ (Lee v. Law Offices of Kim & Bae, P.C., 161 AD3d 964, 965 [2d Dept. 2018]; see also Azzopardi v. American Blower st Corp., 192 AD2d 453, 454 [1 Dept 1993]) (‘Indeed, the court should never even have considered arguments making their initial appearance in reply papers’); Migdol v. City of N.Y. 291 AD2d 201 [1st Dept 2002]) (affirming the rejection of reply papers that ‘sought to remedy [] basic deficiencies in appellant’s prima facie showing’). In Lee, the Second Department affirmed the Nassau County Supreme Court’s (Iannacci, J.) rejection of reply papers that violated these rules, instructing: Here, the plaintiff’s reply papers included new arguments in support of the motion, new grounds and evidence for the motion, and expressly requested relief that was dramatically unlike the relief sought in her original motion. Therefore, those contentions, and the grounds and evidence in support of them were not properly before the Supreme Court. (Lee, supra, 161 AD3d at 965-66) (citations omitted). Order, pp. 13-14. 7. The scope of this required preclusion necessarily includes any expert affidavit or testimony prepared in reply to the Respondents’ expert affidavit, which may not be considered for the purpose of determining whether the movant met its initial 5 5 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 burden. See, e.g., Korthas v. U.S. Foodservice of Buffalo, Inc., 61 A.D.3d 1407 (4th Dept. 2009) (“We do not consider the affidavit of defendant’s expert meteorologist in determining whether defendant met its initial burden because that affidavit was submitted in reply to the affidavit of plaintiffs’ expert meteorologist”); accord, Walter v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 56 A.D.3d 1187 (4th Dept. 2008). 8. The Court’s ruling in this regard stands as the law of the case. Accordingly, all of the affidavits and documents specified above in paragraph 5(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f), and all arguments, documentary evidence and testimonial evidence, including expert evidence, based upon, arising out of, or related to those affidavits, or from those affiants should be precluded from the hearing. POINT II ALL EVIDENCE FROM NYAG VETERINARIANS NEWMAN, AKKAYA, BENSON, GUNZEL AND LEVITAN SHOULD BE PRECLUDED UPON THE ADDITIONAL GROUND THAT THEIR SUBMISSION VIOLATES THE AGREEMENT AND REPRESENTATIONS MADE BY NYAG CONCERNING THE LIMITED PURPOSE OF THE NYAG VET EXAMINATIONS. 9. In addition to the reasons for preclusion set forth in Point I (supra), this Court should also preclude all evidence from Ashley Newman, D.V.M., Kayla Akkaya, D.V.M., Lauryn Benson, D.V.M., Ellen Gunzel, D.V.M. and Diane Monsein Levitan, V.M.D. (the “NYAG Vets”), all of whom volunteered and were assembled by NYAG to examine or oversee the examination of puppies at the Shake A Paw stores and clear them for sale prior to Christmas 2021, on the additional ground that it was previously agreed and specifically represented by Assistant Attorney General Valerie Singleton that the 6 6 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 NYAG Vets would not present any evidence arising from these examination to support NYAG’s case. Counsel for Shake A Paw and the Court expressly relied upon that agreement and representation by Ms. Singleton in crafting the terms, on the record, that would allow puppies at the Shake A Paw stores to be examined and cleared for sale prior to Christmas. 10. At the conference held with the Court in Chambers on March 4, 2022, I voiced this same objection, and stated that Ms. Singleton had expressly agreed that no evidence would be adduced from these NYAG Vet examinations, and that the sole purpose of allowing the NYAG Vets to examine the puppies was to assure their health and fitness for sale, and not for any investigatory or evidentiary purposes. The Court expressed recalling the same. Yet Ms. Singleton denied making these statements. 11. Later in the afternoon of March 4, I ordered the transcript of proceedings held on December 23, 2022. A copy of that 33-page transcript is attached hereto as Exhibit “A.” As the Court can see, the following colloquy occurs at pages 23- 26: THE COURT: Much appreciated because we don’t want any miscommunication with these puppies either. We don’t want to have them lingering. If they have issues, let’s address them. Are there any other issues? MS. SINGLETON: Your Honor, I just want to be very clear, but with respect to producing notes, et cetera, we are not doing that -- again, I want to be very mindful of assigning a role that these doctors and technicians did not take on. I don’t want any, potentially any liability being attached to them. They are not certifying the dogs. We are just saying we are going in just to make sure that these dogs are fit and that – 7 7 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 THE COURT: Ms. Singleton, there is a problem there and I want you to be mindful of that problem. The problem is it’s all fine and good when we all agree, but when you don’t agree, when the two of you don't agree and we are faced with potentially a dog who Mr. Hamburger says is fine and your volunteer vet saying it’s not, then you are going to have to bring in someone to say, hey, it’s not. Otherwise, I have nothing to go by. MS. SINGLETON: I understand that, your Honor, and then at that point, I would retain somebody for that. THE COURT: Very good, so we can all have an understanding that these are volunteers. We are trying to move the process along. I know there was an objection to Fox. I am not so sure about Fox. I think this is the best avenue. I really do. MR. HAMBURGER: Can we put in the stipulation that the Attorney General will direct the volunteer veterinarians not to destroy any of their notes or any of the records that they made even though she is not turning them over in case we need to look at that down the road. I don’t want those destroyed on dogs that they don’t pass. MS. SINGLETON: Your Honor, just so we are clear and I want to be very upfront, transparent. This is making me a little uncomfortable and if we can’t have an agreement, because, again, these guys, their medical malpractice insurance does not cover, I don’t think -- now, I would have to look into this, but I do not think that their medical malpractice would cover this. I will have to talk to – THE COURT: I don’t even know how that comes into play. I think at this point, Mr. Hamburger, if the AG’s office has an issue with the dog and it’s due to a volunteer voluntarily looking at a dog, then they are going to have to bring in an expert within a certain time frame, you know, within 48 to 72 hours to really examine the dog if they want to object to the dog coming in because I don’t want to put the volunteers in jeopardy also, but it’s just, you know, someone willing to come in and look at these dogs and identify, just a second 8 8 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 set of eyes and identify if there are any issues. It’s a little complicated but we are working with it, so I just want everybody to be aware that if there is an issue with the dog, then the AG’s office has to come forward and identify the issue with the dog with someone that is going to be willing to tell the Court that there is an issue with the dog. So in that instance, they are going to have to produce their records. Otherwise, I am going to have to go with the certification of Dr. Fox. That’s not something for the stipulation, but what you can put in the stipulation is that this group of volunteers, they are going to examine the dogs just for fitness, not for the purpose of litigation, and that should any issues arise with the dogs, that the AG’s office immediately advise the respondents, and then we will take it from there. I suspect that will be a conference. MR. YAFFE: So in connection with that, your Honor, they are not, these volunteers are not gathering evidence. They are simply looking at dogs. THE COURT: Well, that is what they are telling me. MR. YAFFE: Right, so they want to look at medical records. They are not taking the medical records back to the Attorney General. They are not copying them, they are not photographing them. They are looking at it as part of their on-site evaluation. They are not gathering evidence for the Attorney General, so we can put that in the order as well. MS. SINGLETON: We have taken great steps to make it extremely clear and the Court has made it extremely clear that they are operating as independent evaluators. They are not the agent of the Attorney General. We have made that extremely and abundantly clear and that their only role -- they are not to look at the conditions of the store. They are only there to examine the puppies and they only are allowed to have access to records that relate to the examination of the puppies and that is all, and that is all that they are there to do, your Honor. They are not there to gather additional evidence for the Attorney General. 9 9 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 THE COURT: Okay. (Emphasis added). 12. There is also a separate confirmatory email that I sent to Ms. Singleton and Assistant Attorney General Christina Bedell on December 23, 2022, at 5:53 PM. after the December 23 conference with the Court, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit “B.” That email states: Valerie and Christina, Here is a revised stipulation in clean and redlined formats which reflect the changes we are comfortable making. This will also confirm your representation to me, taken out of the stipulation at your request, that petitioners’ designated veterinarians are not acting in an investigatory or evidence gathering capacity, but are examining puppies solely to assess their health and fitness for sale. (Emphasis added). 13. As the December 23 transcript shows, the parties were to incorporate what had been agreed at the conference into a stipulation. Ms. Singleton and I went back and forth on the afternoon of December 23 and our last communication was my email quoted above, which includes clean and redlined drafts. Neither Ms. Singleton nor Ms. Bedell ever got back to me with respect to this latest draft and, frankly, it was a moot point because by the end of the day on December 23, the OAG Vet examinations had been concluded at both stores. 14. That the examinations by the OAG Vets was, by agreement, not to be investigative or evidentiary also resolved issues that Respondents’ had raised with regard to OAG Vet recordkeeping. This Court will remember that Respondents wanted 10 10 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 to receive copies of all the notes or records generated by the OAG Vets and Ms. Singleton opposed that request on the specific basis that the OAG Vet examinations would be used for no purpose other than to assure the health of the puppies as fit for sale. Thus, Ms. Singleton stated: I just want to be very clear, but with respect to producing notes, et cetera, we are not doing that -- again, I want to be very mindful of assigning a role that these doctors and technicians did not take on. I don't want any, potentially any liability being attached to them. They are not certifying the dogs. We are just saying we are going in just to make sure that these dogs are fit and that -- (Exh. “A,” 12/23/21 Transcript, p. 23) (emphasis added) 15. This Court was equally clear that OAG would not be able to use the OAG Vet examinations for investigative or evidentiary purposes, immediately stating: THE COURT: Ms. Singleton, there is a problem there and I want you to be mindful of that problem. The problem is it's all fine and good when we all agree, but when you don't agree, when the two of you don't agree and we are faced with potentially a dog who Mr. Hamburger says is fine and your volunteer vet saying it's not, then you are going to have to bring in someone to say, hey, it's not. Otherwise, I have nothing to go by. MS. SINGLETON: I understand that, your Honor, and then at that point, I would retain somebody for that. THE COURT: Very good, so we can all have an understanding that these are volunteers. (Exh. “A,” 12/23/21 Transcript, p. 23) (emphasis added). 16. Any attempt by NYAG to submit testimony or documentary evidence from Drs. Newman, Akkaya, Benson, Gunzel, and Levitan, or to present any testimony 11 11 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 or documentary evidence based upon their examinations, is precluded by the NYAG’s prior agreement and representations made on the record. 17. The NYAG must be estopped and precluded from violating the terms of its representations and agreement that these veterinarians would not be witnesses against Shake A Paw, and if there were disputes about the condition of the puppies at the time they were examined, the NYAG would retain other experts to support their case. Shake A Paw would not have acquiesced to allow the NYAG veterinarians to come into their stores and examine their puppies, and present evidence and testify as witness against Shake A Paw, without (at a minimum) having all the records of those examinations, including lab test results and communications between the veterinarians and NYAG. No proper veterinary records of these ad hoc examinations were ever made or disclosed to Respondents who are completely in the dark. 18. Put another way, to allow these NYAG designated veterinarians to present evidence and testify against Shake A Paw would be to reward NYAG for its misrepresentations to the Court and counsel, and to allow Shake A Paw to be ambushed at the hearing with evidence adduced and developed in clear and deliberate violation of those representations. 12 12 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 POINT III PETITIONER SHOULD BE PRECLUDED FROM PROVIDING ANY EXPERT EVIDENCE THROUGH DR. JULIE FIXMAN BASED UPON ARGUMENTS OR EVIDENCE THAT WERE NOT SUBMITTED AS PART OF PETITIONER’S FORWARD-GOING CASE. ALTERNATIVELY, DR FIXMAN’S EXPERT TESTIMONY SHOULD BE LIMITED TO THE OPINION PROVIDED IN HER AFFIDAVIT WITH RESPECT TO THE ELEVEN CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS ALSO ADDRESSED BY DR. STEVEN FOX, RESPONDENTS’ EXPERT WITNESS. 19. NYAG should be precluded from presenting expert evidence at the hearing from Dr. Julie Fixman, because it was improper for NYAG to submit its first expert evidence on reply, and not as part of its forward-going case. See Point I, supra; see again, Korthas v. U.S. Foodservice of Buffalo, Inc., 61 A.D.3d 1407 (4th Dept. 2009) (“We do not consider the affidavit of defendant’s expert meteorologist in determining whether defendant met its initial burden because that affidavit was submitted in reply to the affidavit of plaintiffs’ expert meteorologist”); accord, Walter v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 56 A.D.3d 1187 (4th Dept. 2008). 20. Additionally, even were that limitation overlooked, Dr. Fixman should be precluded from presenting any testimony or evidence based upon the NYAG Vets affidavits, the affidavit submitted by Matthew Roper, the new customer affidavits, and/or other documents, all presented by Petitioner for the first time in reply. See Point II, supra. 21. At best, Dr. Fixman should be allowed to testify only as to the same consumer complaints that Respondents’ expert Dr. Steven Fox addressed in his opposing 13 13 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 affidavit, on the theory that Dr. Fixman was replying to Dr. Fox. There is no basis for her to opine on the otherwise inadmissible reply evidence presented for the first time through the NYAG veterinarians or Mr. Roper, or any other “new evidence.” POINT IV ALL EVIDENCE FROM DR. GREGORY NELSON, D.V.M., SHOULD BE PRECLUDED. IF NYAG IS PERMITTED TO SUBMIT TESTIMONY FROM DR. NELSON, IT MUST BE CONDITIONED UPON THE IMMEDIATE PRODUCTION OF THE FULL, UN-REDACTED, CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT OF DR. NELSON’S TESTIMONY PLUS ALL THE EXHIBITS UTILIZED DURING THAT DEPOSITION. DR. NELSON SHOULD ALSO BE PRECLUDED FROM PROVIDING NEW EVIDENCE NOT PRESENTED IN THE PAPERS SUBMITTED IN SUPPORT OF THE OSC. 22. In the prior motion practice before this Court, Respondents objected to Petitioner’s use and heavy reliance upon 40 selected pages from a deposition transcript of Dr. Gregory Nelson, D.M.V., maintaining that it was unequivocally inadmissible. A true and correct copy of those 40 selected pages, which were annexed to Petitioner’s papers in support of the OSC at NYSCEF Doc. No. 54, is annexed hereto as Exhibit “C.” As we demonstrated, the issues with this document were numerous. 23. First, Petitioner failed to annex the full transcript, a signature page for Dr. Nelson or a stenographer’s certification. Rather, the document is only 40 pages of what is at least a 228-page transcript (assuming page 228 — the highest page number of the 40 pages — was the final page of the transcript). See, Exh. “C.” Thus, at best the document is only one-sixth of the full transcript. As for the 40 pages that are there, 14 14 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 Petitioner did not even present them in sequential order, as the pages skip up and down multiple times. Id. 24. Second, as for the 40 pages, Dr. Nelson’s testimony is further obscured by heavy redaction. For no explicit reason, Petitioner even goes so far as to redact the transcript page number on the second page of the exhibit. Id. 25. Third, equally troubling, it is completely unclear what documents are referenced or reviewed by Dr. Nelson while testifying. No such disclosure was made by NYAG in the affirmation of AAG Christina Bedell filed in support of the OSC (the “Bedell Aff.,” NYSCEF Doc No. 2), or in the transcript itself. 26. As for the select medical records reviewed by Dr. Nelson in this transcript, only once did NYAG use an identifying marker for the record being referenced. There, the NYAG stated that they were showing Dr. Nelson an “Exhibit K” for a client “Steve Pardue” and a “Patient Bruno.” See, Exh. “C,” p. 19 (Tr. p. 194:16). A thorough review of the Central Veterinarian Associates records, where Dr. Nelson works, annexed to the Bedell Aff. revealed that there is no such record for either that “client” or “patient.” We do not know from where this record came. Perhaps the record is a decade old and well outside the statute of limitations, but cherry picked by the NYAG for its purposes. We do not know. 27. As for the few other medical records referenced in the transcript, no identifying markers are used whatsoever. This is the case despite that each “Central Veterinary Associates” record contained several potential identifying markers, like 15 15 of 24 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 04/18/2022 02:41 PM INDEX NO. 615766/2021 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 289 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/18/2022 “account number,” owner’s name, pet name, date of birth, etc. See generally, Bedell Aff., Exh. “I.” 28. Dr. Nelson also testified that he had “79” records before him. See, Exh. “C,” p.3 (Tr. p. 42:11). However, the production of Central Veterinary Associates records attached to the Bedell Aff. (Exh. “I”) contained only 63 records. Of those 63 records, nine are complete duplicates,1 leaving only 54 different animal records. Whether