N.Y. C.P.L.R. 3101

§ 3101. Scope of disclosure. (a) Generally. There shall be full\ndisclosure of all matter material and necessary in the prosecution or\ndefense of an action, regardless of the burden of proof, by:\n (1) a party, or the officer, director, member, agent or employee of a\nparty;\n (2) a person who possessed a cause of action or defense asserted in\nthe action;\n (3) a person about to depart from the state, or without the state, or\nresiding at a greater distance from the place of trial than one hundred\nmiles, or so sick or infirm as to afford reasonable grounds of belief\nthat he or she will not be able to attend the trial, or a person\nauthorized to practice medicine, dentistry or podiatry who has provided\nmedical, dental or podiatric care or diagnosis to the party demanding\ndisclosure, or who has been retained by such party as an expert witness;\nand\n (4) any other person, upon notice stating the circumstances or reasons\nsuch disclosure is sought or required.\n (b) Privileged matter. Upon objection by a person entitled to assert\nthe privilege, privileged matter shall not be obtainable.\n (c) Attorney's work product. The work product of an attorney shall not\nbe obtainable.\n (d) Trial preparation.\n 1. Experts. (i) Upon request, each party shall identify each person\nwhom the party expects to call as an expert witness at trial and shall\ndisclose in reasonable detail the subject matter on which each expert is\nexpected to testify, the substance of the facts and opinions on which\neach expert is expected to testify, the qualifications of each expert\nwitness and a summary of the grounds for each expert's opinion. However,\nwhere a party for good cause shown retains an expert an insufficient\nperiod of time before the commencement of trial to give appropriate\nnotice thereof, the party shall not thereupon be precluded from\nintroducing the expert's testimony at the trial solely on grounds of\nnoncompliance with this paragraph. In that instance, upon motion of any\nparty, made before or at trial, or on its own initiative, the court may\nmake whatever order may be just. In an action for medical, dental or\npodiatric malpractice, a party, in responding to a request, may omit the\nnames of medical, dental or podiatric experts but shall be required to\ndisclose all other information concerning such experts otherwise\nrequired by this paragraph.\n (ii) In an action for medical, dental or podiatric malpractice, any\nparty may, by written offer made to and served upon all other parties\nand filed with the court, offer to disclose the name of, and to make\navailable for examination upon oral deposition, any person the party\nmaking the offer expects to call as an expert witness at trial. Within\ntwenty days of service of the offer, a party shall accept or reject the\noffer by serving a written reply upon all parties and filing a copy\nthereof with the court. Failure to serve a reply within twenty days of\nservice of the offer shall be deemed a rejection of the offer. If all\nparties accept the offer, each party shall be required to produce his or\nher expert witness for examination upon oral deposition upon receipt of\na notice to take oral deposition in accordance with rule thirty-one\nhundred seven of this chapter. If any party, having made or accepted the\noffer, fails to make that party's expert available for oral deposition,\nthat party shall be precluded from offering expert testimony at the\ntrial of the action.\n (iii) Further disclosure concerning the expected testimony of any\nexpert may be obtained only by court order upon a showing of special\ncircumstances and subject to restrictions as to scope and provisions\nconcerning fees and expenses as the court may deem appropriate. However,\na party, without court order, may take the testimony of a person\nauthorized to practice medicine, dentistry or podiatry who is the\nparty's treating or retained expert, as described in paragraph three of\nsubdivision (a) of this section, in which event any other party shall be\nentitled to the full disclosure authorized by this article with respect\nto that expert without court order.\n 2. Materials. Subject to the provisions of paragraph one of this\nsubdivision, materials otherwise discoverable under subdivision (a) of\nthis section and prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial by\nor for another party, or by or for that other party's representative\n(including an attorney, consultant, surety, indemnitor, insurer or\nagent), may be obtained only upon a showing that the party seeking\ndiscovery has substantial need of the materials in the preparation of\nthe case and is unable without undue hardship to obtain the substantial\nequivalent of the materials by other means. In ordering discovery of the\nmaterials when the required showing has been made, the court shall\nprotect against disclosure of the mental impressions, conclusions,\nopinions or legal theories of an attorney or other representative of a\nparty concerning the litigation.\n (e) Party's statement. A party may obtain a copy of his own statement.\n (f) Contents of insurance agreement. A party may obtain discovery of\nthe existence and contents of any insurance agreement under which any\nperson carrying on an insurance business may be liable to satisfy part\nor all of a judgment which may be entered in the action or to indemnify\nor reimburse for payments made to satisfy the judgment. Information\nconcerning the insurance agreement is not by reason of disclosure\nadmissible in evidence at trial. For purpose of this subdivision, an\napplication for insurance shall not be treated as part of an insurance\nagreement.\n (g) Accident reports. Except as is otherwise provided by law, in\naddition to any other matter which may be subject to disclosure, there\nshall be full disclosure of any written report of an accident prepared\nin the regular course of business operations or practices of any person,\nfirm, corporation, association or other public or private entity, unless\nprepared by a police or peace officer for a criminal investigation or\nprosecution and disclosure would interfere with a criminal investigation\nor prosecution.\n (h) Amendment or supplementation of responses. A party shall amend or\nsupplement a response previously given to a request for disclosure\npromptly upon the party's thereafter obtaining information that the\nresponse was incorrect or incomplete when made, or that the response,\nthough correct and complete when made, no longer is correct and\ncomplete, and the circumstances are such that a failure to amend or\nsupplement the response would be materially misleading. Where a party\nobtains such information an insufficient period of time before the\ncommencement of trial appropriately to amend or supplement the response,\nthe party shall not thereupon be precluded from introducing evidence at\nthe trial solely on grounds of noncompliance with this subdivision. In\nthat instance, upon motion of any party, made before or at trial, or on\nits own initiative, the court may make whatever order may be just.\nFurther amendment or supplementation may be obtained by court order.\n (i) In addition to any other matter which may be subject to\ndisclosure, there shall be full disclosure of any films, photographs,\nvideo tapes or audio tapes, including transcripts or memoranda thereof,\ninvolving a person referred to in paragraph one of subdivision (a) of\nthis section. There shall be disclosure of all portions of such\nmaterial, including out-takes, rather than only those portions a party\nintends to use. The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to\nmaterials compiled for law enforcement purposes which are exempt from\ndisclosure under section eighty-seven of the public officers law.\n