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REPORTED IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 448 September Term, 1997

MARYLAND STATE BOARD OF DENTAL EXAMINERS v. CHRISTOPHER FISHER, D.D.S.

Murphy, C.J., Moylan, Harrington, Louis D. (specially assigned) JJ. Opinion by Murphy, C.J.

Filed: October 2, 1998

In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Dr. Christopher Fisher, appellee, petitioned for judicial review of a disciplinary sanction imposed on him by the Maryland State Board of Dental Examiners, appellant.1 During the course of this

proceeding, appellee succeeded in obtaining a discovery order that (1) requires Board members to submit to depositions; and (2) requires the Board to produce, for in camera review, the minutes of the executive session at which it arrived at the decision being challenged in these proceedings. questions for our review: 1. Does this Court have jurisdiction to review the lower court's interlocutory order for discovery, including the depositions of members of an administrative licencing and disciplinary board, an issue collateral to the merits of the appeal, where the order would have a chilling effect and a detrimental impact on the ability of professional disciplinary boards to carry out their delegated functions? Did the lower court err as a matter of law in ordering discovery, including the depositions of members of an administrative disciplinary board, as well as individuals with no connection to the case, and the production of privileged documents for in camera review,. [sic] In order to supplement the hearing record, where the Appellee failed to make the necessary showing of fraud or extreme circumstances needed to pierce the quasijudicial privilege governing agency deliberations? Appellant presents two

2.

The Maryland State Board of Dental examiners ordered that appellee's dental license be suspended for a period of five years upon a finding that he violated certain provisions of the Maryland Dentistry Act. The Board then suspended four years of the five year period of suspension.

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Appellee presents us with the following questions: 1. Whether the trial court's interlocutory discovery order authorizing the depositions of non-board members and an in camera review of Board minutes is appealable at this juncture absent any harm to the Board. Whether the trial court properly exercised its broad discretion when entering a narrowly tailored discovery order permitting depositions of both Board and non-board members, as well as an in camera review of Board minutes, upon Dr. Fisher's strong preliminary showing of the Board's judicial impropriety.

2.

For the following reasons, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

FACTS In accordance with Md. Code Ann., State Government

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