The June 13, 2014 order properly required defendant to produce all documents that reference or otherwise mention asbestos or asbestos-containing products, components or parts used on, in or in conjunction with or as replacement parts for its boilers, as plaintiffs had expressly requested.
The December 19, 2014 order, which directs defendant to produce the entirety of its commercial files and "all other
Defendant made the "minimal" showing in support of its application for a confidentiality order (see Jackson v Dow Chem. Co., 214 A.D.2d 827, 828 [3d Dept 1995]), and plaintiffs failed to show that such an order would in any way hinder discovery. We thus remand to Supreme Court for an appropriate order to protect trade secrets or other confidential documents, and to limit, as appropriate, the dissemination of any such confidential documents within the NYCAL litigation.
Supreme Court properly denied defendant's request to produce a sampling of responsive documents. While the scope of documents to be reviewed may be vast, that is a function of the litigation and defendant's no-duty defense pursuant to Berkowitz v A.C. & S., Inc. (288 A.D.2d 148 [1st Dept 2001]).
We reject defendant's contention that the electronic database, which defendant acknowledges is a duplicate of documents it uses in the regular course of business, is privileged. Nevertheless, because the responsive documents to which plaintiffs are entitled are limited to those that reference asbestos or asbestos-containing products, plaintiffs are not entitled to the more expansive database. Similarly, plaintiffs are not entitled to defendant's compilation of index cards identifying each job site and location and the boiler unit number for the boiler installed at the job site. However, to the extent defendant provides plaintiff with direct access to its files and records for plaintiff to search for responsive documents, and the index cards are necessary to facilitate that search, Supreme Court may, in its discretion, enter an appropriate order.
Defendant may renew its application for cost sharing at such time after the commencement of production as the magnitude and equities of the task have become clearer (see U.S. Bank, N.A. v GreenPoint Mtge. Funding, Inc., 94 A.D.3d 58 [1st Dept 2012]).
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