Hutchinson v. Westport Ins. Corp.

• Decision Date: 08 November 2004
• Docket Number: No. 2004-C-1592.,2004-C-1592.
• Parties: Janice HUTCHINSON, Individually and on Behalf of Her Minor Child, Bryant Sibley, Jr. v. WESTPORT INSURANCE CORPORATION, the Law Offices of Jumonville & Lee, Jan P. Jumonville and Patrick F. Lee.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

886 So.2d 438

Janice HUTCHINSON, Individually and on Behalf of Her Minor Child, Bryant Sibley, Jr. v. WESTPORT INSURANCE CORPORATION, the Law Offices of Jumonville & Lee, Jan P. Jumonville and Patrick F. Lee.

No. 2004-C-1592.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

November 8, 2004.

PER CURIAM.

Writ granted. The judgment of the court of appeal is reversed and the district court order of dismissal is reinstated.

This writ application concerns whether the district court's order of dismissal of plaintiffs' lawsuit for failing to comply with the court's order to respond to discovery was properly reversed by the court of appeal.

Plaintiffs filed a legal malpractice action against defendant law firm and its insurer. This malpractice action arose from a failure of defendant law firm to timely file an action for damages sustained by the minor child, Bryant Sibley, Jr., in an automobile accident.

The defendants in this matter served interrogatories and requests for production of documents upon the plaintiffs on August 16, 2002, seeking discovery in this matter that was set for trial on April 21, 2003. Ms. Hutchinson was representing herself and her minor son in proper person, despite the detailed advice from the district court judge regarding the disadvantages of proceeding without counsel.¹ On October 11, 2002, defendants filed a motion to compel answers to interrogatories and responses to requests for production of documents, alleging plaintiffs had failed to properly respond to discovery served upon them. The district court granted the motion to compel on November 27, 2002, ordering plaintiffs to respond within fifteen days from receipt of the order. Plaintiffs moved for, and were granted, an extension of thirty days to comply with that order. Plaintiffs having failed to comply with the ordered discovery, defendants filed a motion to dismiss on January 21, 2003.

The court heard the motion on April 11, 2003. After hearing from Ms. Hutchinson, the court granted the motion to dismiss, noting that defense counsel had patiently attempted to work with the plaintiffs to make it easy for them to comply with discovery because of their unrepresented status. The court of appeal reversed the judgment of dismissal and remanded the matter to the district court. For the following reasons, we grant the defendants' writ and reverse.

The trial court has much discretion in imposing sanctions for failure to comply with discovery orders, and its ruling should not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. Lirette v. Babin Farms, Inc., 02-1402, p. 3 (La.App. 1 Cir. 4/2/03), 843 So.2d 1141, 1143; Garza v. Int'l. Maint. Corp., 97-317, p. 3 (La.App. 3 Cir. 10/29/97), 702 So.2d 1021, 1023. Dismissal, however, is a draconian penalty which should be applied only in extreme circumstances. Horton v. McCary, 93-2315, p. 10 (La.4/11/94), 635 So.2d 199, 203. Dismissal is a sanction of last resort only to be imposed where a party has failed to comply with a court order of discovery and only after an opportunity to be heard has been afforded the litigant. Garza, 97-317 at p. 5, 702 So.2d at 1024.

In Horton, we adopted from the federal courts four factors to consider before taking the drastic action of dismissal. These factors are: (1) whether the violation was willful or resulted from inability to comply; (2) whether less drastic sanctions would be effective; (3) whether the violations prejudiced the opposing party's trial preparation; and (4) whether the client participated in the violation or simply misunderstood a court order or innocently hired a derelict attorney. Horton, 93-2315 at pp. 10-11, 635 So.2d at 203. With these standards in mind and having reviewed the record, we find the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing the sanction of dismissal for plaintiffs' failure to comply with its discovery order. The appellate court noted the following:

In the matter before us, Ms. Hutchinson is the client and is directly and solely

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