Greenhill v. Shands Teaching Hospital & Clinics, Inc.

The appellants challenge an order by which their medical malpractice action was dismissed, upon a finding that they failed to comply with a pretrial conference order. As indicated in cases such as Commonwealth Federal Savings & Loan Ass’n v. Tubero, 569 So.2d 1271 (Fla.1990), dismissal is a severe sanction which should be used only in extreme circumstances. Tubero reiterated the description of such circumstances in Mercer v. Raine, 443 So.2d 944 (Fla.1983), referring to a deliberate and contumacious disregard of the court’s authority, or bad faith, willful disregard or gross indifference, or…