Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.
The matter into which the appellant seeks to inquire through the examination before trial of an associate of the plaintiff's counsel is entirely collateral to the material issues in this action (see, Blittner v. Berg Dorf, 138 A.D.2d 439, 440-441). Furthermore, the appellant has not demonstrated the requisite special circumstances for direct disclosure of a nonparty witness (CPLR 3101 [a] [4]; Dioguardi v. St. John's Riverside Hosp., 144 A.D.2d 333, 334).
On this state of the record, the appellant's demand for discovery and inspection of medical reports obtained by the plaintiff's counsel prior to the filing of the certificate of merit was properly denied (CPLR 3012-a [e]). Thompson, J.P., Brown, Eiber and Rosenblatt, JJ., concur.