CPLR § 3103

Protective orders · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 3103. Protective orders. (a) Prevention of abuse. The court may at any time on its own initiative, or on motion of any party or of any person from whom or about whom discovery is sought, make a protective order denying, limiting, conditioning or regulating the use of any disclosure device. Such order shall be designed to prevent unreasonable annoyance, expense, embarrassment, disadvantage, or other prejudice to any person or the courts.

(b) Suspension of disclosure pending application for protective order. Service of a notice of motion for a protective order shall suspend disclosure of the particular matter in dispute.

(c) Suppression of information improperly obtained. If any disclosure under this article has been improperly or irregularly obtained so that a substantial right of a party is prejudiced, the court, on motion, may make an appropriate order, including an order that the information be suppressed.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/3103

In plain English

A court may control discovery to prevent abuse.

(a) The court, on its own or on request, may deny, limit, condition, or regulate discovery to prevent unreasonable annoyance, expense, embarrassment, disadvantage, or other prejudice.
(b) Serving notice of a protective-order motion automatically pauses discovery of the disputed matter. ★
(c) The court may suppress improperly or irregularly obtained information when it prejudices a party’s substantial right.

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 1 — The Court Clerk in Plain English; Volume 2 — The Court Clerk: Civil Practice Law and Rules; Volume 1 — Your Career: Civil Practice in Plain English.