Opinion
April 21, 1986
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Orange County (Rubenfeld, J.).
Order modified, by adding a provision thereto that the defendant is also granted leave, if it be so advised, to serve a new notice to produce in proper form. As so modified, order affirmed, with costs to the plaintiff.
CPLR 3120 (a) (1) (i) requires that documents sought to be discovered be specifically identified with reasonable particularity in a notice to produce. It is well settled that the use of the description "all documents" within broad categories, which was used in the instant case, renders the notice improper (Hudson Val. Tree v. Barcana, Inc., 114 A.D.2d 400; Jonassen v A.M.F., Inc., 104 A.D.2d 484, 485; Ganin v. Janow, 86 A.D.2d 857). Therefore, Special Term acted correctly in vacating the defendant's notice to produce. It also properly held that the interrogatories served on the plaintiff were overly broad and burdensome. Under the circumstances, it was within Special Term's discretion to strike, rather than to prune, the interrogatories (see, Manzo v. Westchester Rockland Newspapers, 106 A.D.2d 492; Barouh Eaton Allen Corp. v. International Business Machs. Corp., 76 A.D.2d 873). However, while Special Term has provided that new interrogatories may be served, its order has been modified so as to provide that the defendant may also serve a new notice to produce in proper form, if it be so advised. Mollen, P.J., Thompson, Niehoff, Rubin and Kunzeman, JJ., concur.