 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Smith v. Butte-silver Bow County5/6/1996
!-- Page 332 -->claim. With regard to the expert witness information, the Estate stated that:
[the Estate] has previously supplied information about it's expert witnesses to the [County]. This may have been overlooked by the court. The information previously supplied by [the Estate] complies fully with Rule 26, MRCP. Another copy of that information is provided to the court herewith.
In June of 1995, the County moved to dismiss the Estate's complaint pursuant to Rule 37, M.R.Civ.P., for alleged discovery abuses. The District Court granted the County's motion and subsequently entered judgment dismissing the Estate's complaint with prejudice. The Estate appeals.
Did the District Court abuse its discretion in dismissing the Estate's complaint with prejudice pursuant to Rule 37(b)(2)(C), M.R.Civ.P.?
It is important at the outset to recognize the salutary purposes underlying the availability of Rule 37, M.R.Civ.P., sanctions for discovery abuses and the respective roles of the district courts in imposing — and this Court in reviewing — such sanctions. While trial courts traditionally were reluctant to impose discovery-related sanctions, concerns relating to crowded dockets and the overall responsibility for maintaining fair and efficient judicial administration had reversed that trend by the 1970s. See Owen v. F.A. Buttrey, Co. (1981), 192 Mont. 274, 277-78, 627 P.2d 1233, 1235. Indeed, since 1981, it has been this Court's position that dilatory abuse of discovery must no longer be dealt with leniently and that the transgressors of discovery abuses should be punished rather than encouraged repeatedly to cooperate. See Owen, 627 P.2d at 1235. "When litigants use willful delay, evasive response, and disregard of court discretion as part and parcel of their trial strategy, they must suffer the consequences." Owen, 627 P.2d at 1236.
Rule 37, M.R.Civ.P., provides trial courts with a means to prevent an excessive back-log of cases. See Dassori v. Roy Stanley Chevrolet Co. (1986), 224 Mont. 178, 180, 728 P.2d 430, 431. Moreover,
he trial judge is in the best position to know . . . which parties callously disregard the rights of their opponents and other litigants seeking their day in court is also in the best position to determine which sanction is the most appropriate.
Dassori, 728 P.2d at 431. As a result, we generally defer to the decision of the trial court regarding Rule 37, M.R.Civ.P., sanctions. See Eisenmenger v. Ethicon, Inc. (1994), 264 Mont. 393, 402, 871 P.2d 1313, 1319.
Here, the District Court determined that the Estate failed to comply with its post-remand orders requiring disclosure of expert opinion information in compliance with Rule 26(b)(4)(A)(i), M.R.Civ.P., and dismissed the Estate's complaint with prejudice. We review a district court's imposition of sanctions for discovery abuses to determine if the court abused its discretion. Eisenmenger, 871 P.2d at 1319 (citing First Bank (N.A.)-Billings v. Heidema (1986), 219 Mont. 373, 711 P.2d 1384).
DISCOVERY ABUSE
Before discussing the propriety of the District Court's imposition of sanctions under Rule 37, M.R.Civ.P., it is necessary to address the Estate's contention on appeal that no discovery abuse exists in this case. The Estate contends that the only information not provided to the County was the amount of time one of its expert witnesses, Dr. Paul F. Cimmino, spent researching for this case. We disagree.
Rule 26(b)(4)(A)(i), M.R.Civ.P., provides that
party may through interrogatories require any other party to identify each person whom the other party expects to call a
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Montana Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|