Reda v Port Auth. of N.Y. & N.J.

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department, reversed an order granting the plaintiff's motion to quash subpoenas seeking depositions of the decedent's nonparty treating physicians. The court held that the defendants satisfied their initial obligation under CPLR 3101(a)(4) by providing adequate notice of the circumstances or reasons for the disclosure, and the plaintiff failed to show that the requested disclosure was irrelevant.

Holdings

1. A party serving a nonparty subpoena has an initial minimal obligation to show that the nonparty was apprised of the circumstances or reasons for the requested disclosure; defendants satisfied that obligation by providing the treating physicians adequate notice.
2. The plaintiff failed to establish that the requested disclosure was irrelevant to the action; therefore, the motion to quash the subpoenas should have been denied.

Questions Presented

1. Whether defendants seeking nonparty disclosure under CPLR 3101(a)(4) made the required initial showing by apprising the subpoenaed physicians of the circumstances or reasons for the disclosure.
2. Whether the plaintiff, after that initial showing, established that the requested depositions were irrelevant or otherwise futile so that the subpoenas should be quashed.

Disposition

reversed