Nesmith v. Superior Court

OPINION

KLEINSCHMIDT, Judge.

We accept jurisdiction in this special action to settle whether the trial court improperly dismissed one of the plaintiff’s claims as a sanction for abusing discovery. We hold that the trial court erred, and we vacate its order of dismissal without prejudice to reconsider appropriate sanctions upon a proper consideration of fact and proper application of law.

This case presented the trial judge with a frustrating dilemma that is typical of dis- eovery difficulties. While the plaintiffs counsel has conceded that he was dilatory in some respects, many of the…