Alvarado v. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, INC.

We reverse the trial court’s dismissal with prejudice of appellants’ case for failure to comply with certain discovery orders. “Because dismissal is the ultimate sanction in the adversarial system, it should be reserved for those aggravating circumstances in which a lesser sanction would fail to achieve a just result.” Kozel v. Ostendorf, 629 So.2d 817, 818 (Fla.1993). To ensure that the sanction of dismissal is prudently applied, trial courts must first make certain preliminary findings of fact. Tianvan v. AVCO Corp., 898 So.2d 1208, 1209 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005). These findings must address:

1)…