LANZELLO v. LAKRITZ

ORDERED that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.

A party seeking discovery from a nonparty witness must show special circumstances ( see, Dioguardi v. St. John's Riverside Hosp., 144 A.D.2d 333, 334). The existence of such special circumstances is not established merely upon a showing that the information sought is relevant. Rater, special circumstances are shown by establishing that the information sought cannot be obtained from other sources ( see, Murphy v. Macarthur Holding B., 269 A.D.2d 507; Patterson v. St. Francis Ctr. at Knolls, 249 A.D.2d 457; Anderson v. Kamalian, 231 A.D.2d 659; Dioguardi v. St. John's Riverside Hosp., supra). Here, the Supreme Court properly determined that the defendants did not show special circumstances and therefore properly granted the plaintiff's motion for a protective order quashing the subpoena served on the treating physician of the plaintiff's decedent.

RITTER, J. P., GOLDSTEIN, FRIEDMANN and CRANE, H., concur.