Opinion
712N
April 3, 2003.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Jeffrey Atlas, J.), entered on or about February 13, 2002, which granted defendants' motion for a protective order with respect to plaintiff's February 1, 2001 Notice to Take Deposition, February 14, 2001 Notice to Take Deposition and March 31, 2001 Notice to Admit, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Pro Se, for plaintiff-appellant.
Richard Paul Stone Michael P. Munro, for defendants-respondents.
Before: Mazzarelli, J.P., Sullivan, Lerner, Friedman, Gonzalez, JJ.
In this medical malpractice action, the motion court did not exceed its authority by issuing the order granting the protective orders after the matter had been administratively transferred to another Judicial District. The transfer order did not become effective until it was duly entered on March 13, 2002. Thus, the motion court still retained the authority to decide defendants' motion when it did on January 29, 2002.
The motion court properly exercised its discretion by granting protective orders with respect to plaintiff's Notices to Take Depositions since the information regarding the physician defendants' anesthesia privileges had already been disclosed and plaintiff failed to establish that the additional evidence she sought was relevant and necessary to issues to be decided at trial. Moreover, the court properly granted a protective order with regard to plaintiff's Notice to Admit since plaintiff was improperly using such device to limit the scope of disclosure rather than for its intended purpose — to resolve factual matters pertaining to the elements of her claim which will not be in dispute at trial (see Taylor v. Blair, 116 A.D.2d 204).
We have considered plaintiff's remaining contentions and find them to be unavailing.
Motion seeking leave to strike brief and for other related relief granted to the extent of striking Point II of the brief of defendants-respondents Isani and Hand Surgery Associates, P.C., and otherwise denied.
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.