Rhoades v. Rodriguez
In an auto negligence case, the trial court struck the defendant's pleadings as a sanction for defense counsel's intentionally misleading statements at the first trial and his misuse of Rule 1.351 non-party subpoena procedures, then granted additur and a new trial after the second trial. The Fifth DCA affirmed the new-trial order and the finding that sanctions were warranted but held that striking the pleadings was an abuse of discretion under Kozel and Ham where the client was uninvolved (counsel was retained by his insurer) and the opposing party suffered no prejudice, and where both attorneys contributed to the mistrial. On remand, the trial court may impose monetary sanctions personally on counsel, including fees for the sanctions hearing and the physician's fees, and the court referred the opinion to The Florida Bar.
Key facts
- Plaintiff sued defendant for auto negligence; trial court struck defendant's pleadings as sanctions for defense counsel's intentionally misleading statements at trial and misuse of Rule 1.351 non-party subpoena procedures.
- After striking pleadings, trial court granted a new trial and additur; defendant appealed the sanctions order and new trial.
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Why it matters
This is a leading Fifth DCA statement on the outer limits of the ultimate sanction: even a documented, repeat-offender pattern of attorney misconduct will not support striking an insurer-retained defense counsel's… — full analysis with a trial
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