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Terminating Sanctions Due To Attorney Misconduct

Osborne v. Todd Farm Service (2016) 247 Cal.App.4th 43.
Plaintiff’s attorney did not timely designate an expert witness with respect to the source of a bale of hay that caused injury to his client. Defendants’ in limine motions were granted, forbidding the plaintiff from opining on the source of the hay bale, and forbidding the plaintiff from testifying that the bale in question came from defendant Berrington’s farm in Nevada.  Plaintiff’s counsel violated these orders in opening statement and during the trial, despite at least three warnings from the trial court.
Held: dismissal as to all defendants warranted due to plaintiff’s counsel’s repeated flagrant violations of the in limine orders. Dismissal affirmed on an abuse of discretion standard.