George Sergeyevich Garkavyi, Plaintiff, v. DDS NYU DENTAL URGENT CARE (2026)

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 were read on this motion to/for REQUEST FOR EXTRATERRITORIAL DISCOVERY.

In this action to recover damages for dental malpractice, the defendants move for the issuance of Letters of Request pursuant to the Hague Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters (23 UST 2555, TIAS No. 7444; hereinafter the Hague Evidence Convention), directed to competent judicial authorities in the Russian Federation, instructing Dr. Tkachuk Maxim Teodorovich of Dynasty Dentistry, located in the Ryazan Oblast of the Russian Federation, to produce copies of all patient records and radiographic images referable to the plaintiff from October 1, 2014, to the present. No party opposes the motion. The motion is granted.

CPLR 3101(a) calls for "full disclosure of all matter material and necessary in the prosecution or defense of an action, regardless of the burden of proof" (Allen v Crowell-Collier Publ. Co., 21 NY2d 403, 407 [1968] [internal quotation marks omitted]). Evidence is material if sought "in good faith for possible use as evidence-in-chief or rebuttal or for cross-examination" (id.). The records of the plaintiff's treating dentist in Russia clearly are material and necessary to the litigation of this action (see Rodriguez v Ryder Truck Rental, Inc., 100 AD2d 811, 811 [1st Dept 1984). Moreover, as the Appellate Division, First Department, has explained,

" '[w]hen discovery is sought from a nonparty in a foreign jurisdiction [that is a signatory to the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters (23 UST 2555, TIAS No. 7444 [1970]), application of the . . . Convention . . . is virtually compulsory' "

(Dorilton Capital Mgt. LLC v Stilus, LLC, 242 AD3d 546, 547 [1st Dept 2025], quoting Orlich v Helm Bros., 160 AD2d 135, 143 [1st Dept 1990]). Since the defendants have established the materiality and necessity of obtaining the records of the plaintiff's treating dentist in Russia, their request for letters pursuant to the Hague Evidence Convention must be granted.

The court notes that Article IV of the Hague Evidence Convention provides that "a Contracting State shall accept a Letter in either English or French, or a translation into one of

these languages, unless it has made the reservation authorized by Article 33." The defendants have not informed the court as to whether the Russian Federation has made such a reservation and, thus, whether they will have to translate the Letters issued by this court into Russian.

Accordingly, it is,

ORDERED that the defendants' motion for the issuance of Letters of Request pursuant to the Hague Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters (23 UST 2555, TIAS No. 7444), directed to competent judicial authorities in the Russian Federation, instructing Dr. Tkachuk Maxim Teodorovich of Dynasty Dentistry, located in the Ryazan Oblast of the Russian Federation, to produce copies of all patient records and radiographic images referable to the plaintiff from October 1, 2014 to the present is granted, and the court shall sign and upload those letters to the New York State Court Electronic Filing system under a separate Docket Entry number; and it is further,

ORDERED that, upon the request of the defendants' attorneys, the Clerk of the court shall place the official seal of the court on the Letters of Request issued by this court in this action.

This constitutes the Decision and Order of the court.

DATE 6/3/2026

JOHN J. KELLEY, J.S.C.

John J. Kelley, J.