MOYE v. MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL (2023)

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Richard G. Latin, J.), entered on or about November 30, 2022, which, to the extent appealed from, directed defendant Jeffrey Cohen to provide plaintiffs with a statement of his net worth, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and plaintiffs' request for Cohen's net worth statement denied.

The order is not appealable as of right under CPLR 5701(a)(2) because it did not decide a motion made on notice.  Rather, the court issued its order after a discovery conference.  Nonetheless, we deem the notice of appeal from the order to be a motion for leave to appeal, and we grant the motion (see Marrero v. Modern Food Ctr. Inc., 209 A.D.3d 533, 533–534, 175 N.Y.S.3d 223 [1st Dept. 2022]).

Supreme Court should not have directed Cohen to provide a net worth statement, as financial disclosures sought in support of a claim for punitive damages should await a special verdict on the question of liability (Suozzi v. Parente, 161 A.D.2d 232, 232, 554 N.Y.S.2d 617 [1st Dept. 1990];  see also Rupert v. Sellers, 48 A.D.2d 265, 272, 368 N.Y.S.2d 904 [4th Dept. 1975]).